Torch

With a name like Torch, it shouldn't be surprising that Kevin Campbell is being hailed as one of 2006 brightest prospects.

The young, Trench Town-born singer got his name from veteran deejay Tony Rebel at Penthouse, who felt that he was actually "blazing like a torch."

He had been known as Honey Cone, but was told that he needed a more fitting name for his extremely realistic songs.
Since then he has recorded a number of singles at Penthouse but, recently, he joined the crew of Wayne Lonesome's Run Tings label and is featured on their new compilation CD, which also highlights Luciano, Louie Culture, Gregory Isaacs, Jah Mali, King Kong and Action Fire.

"I do a couple of girlie songs, but I mostly do uplifting songs," he said referring to his new Run Tings track, Got To Leave, which he describes as a message dealing with the daily problems of inner city life.

"Frankly, I get fed up sometimes with the problems," Torch, who still lives in Arnett Gardens, confessed. "There are no changes in the lives of the poor. People just murder people and so on and nothing is helping. I can't take the bag-a-shot anymore, is full time to make a change."

His new song deals with issues like rape, turf wars and violence.

Torch has carefully prepared himself for a 9-5 life; however, the urge of music has not been able to confine him to that space. After Camperdown High School, he studied computer technology, although he has never taken up that profession, formally.

He actually worked at several places, including Caribbean Broilers, before he joined the Black Roots Studios staff as an assistant engineer to "Daddy Ants".

He worked on several tunes for producer Sugar Minott, before he recorded his first single an original titled, In The Ghetto, which was released in 1998. He also recorded So Let It Be for Loyal Soldiers label and Conscience for Fifth Element.

He did a number of singles for the Big Stone label, including Full Time and Let Them Stumble before joining Penthouse in 2002. Among his singles for Penthouse was Quality Time, which has done exceptionally well in France.

"I want to be a really big artiste," Torch says, "and I want to accomplish my mission to change Jamaica and bring it back to when things were normal."

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