E-DEE. seems poised to take dancehall music to a new level

E-Dee belongs to a short list, that is if there have been any other Jamaican artistes who, while being in the middle of a run on the Billboard Top 25 Hip-Hop/R&B Sales chart, were also featured in a film for which they have contributed to the soundtrack.

With a guest appearance in the urban action film, The Party, E-Dee has also contributed not just one, but four songs to that soundtrack.

The 25-year-old Clarendonian, whose real name is Everton Dennis, is experiencing a tremendous breakthrough in the US market. He is featured on Ms Triniti's newest smash single, Bounce Along, which, earlier this year, went as far as number 16 on the charts.

Now he plays the lead role in the movie Trailer, which was released in the USA on September 9, and has made his entry on the Top 20 Reggae Singles chart at number 12 (last week) with Revolution (a remake of Dennis Brown's classic hit), featuring Hawaiian reggae singer Irie Love, who now records on Morgan Heritage's Giddeon label.

E-Dee, who migrated to America to pursue a career in music and acting, seems poised to take dancehall music to a new level. He gained much worthwhile exposure to hip hop and R&B, which began to influence his lyrics as he would fuse American slang with his Jamaican dialect.

This crossover appeal has landed him shows on which he opened for hip hop artistes Ja Rule, D-12, and collaborations with Capitol Records artistes Houston and Ms Triniti.

"...The music is the first choice for me, then came the acting, so later on when the music hits, I'll be doing a lot of movies," E-Dee told the Observer just over a year ago.

Now on a roll, it is clear that the entertainer who once said, "The music comes natural, acting is a thing I study, and I discovered I could act", is now living his dreams, appealing to a whole new market as well as traditional dancehall fans.

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