KINGSTON, Jamaica  — Veteran music industry insider Clyde McKenzie believes a new celebrity show, produced in Florida, can expose Caribbean artistes to a diverse demographic.

McKenzie, who has worked as a producer and publicist with Beenie Man and Tanto Metro and Devonte, believes Before The Fame, an hour-long show scheduled to debut on American television this summer, will show Americans a different side of the Caribbean experience.

“Shows like these serve a number of purposes. When you are familiar with the background of an artiste it helps. In the US for example, a lot of people don’t know that some our artistes come from the same inner-city communities like their biggest stars,” McKenzie told the OBSERVER ONLINE.

Before The Fame is hosted by Mike Sherman, a former Wall Street financier who previously produced On The Mike, which aired on CBS TV in Miami.

Tanto Metro and Devonte, Sean Paul, Lunch Money Lewis, Ian Lewis of Inner Circle, OMI, Sean Kingston, Kevin Lyttle, Shaggy and TOK have been interviewed for Before The Fame, which debuts in the United States in September.

For acts like Tanto Metro and Devonte, who had a big hit in 1997 with Everyone Falls In Love, McKenzie says an appearance on a hip television show presents an opportunity for career revival.

“It re-introduces them to different audiences and music business people. We’ve seen what is happening with people like Sean Paul with all the collaborations. It’s because he’s been introduced to a new generation of fans and artistes through social media,” he explained.

Hip hop artistes found new fans through reality cable shows like Cribs and This Is How I’m Living which focused on their life of glitz and glamour.

With On The Mike, New Jersey-born Sherman interviewed pop heavyweights including Justin Bieber and Alicia Keys.

He also chatted with stars with Caribbean backgrounds such as Haiti-born Wyclef Jean; Sean Kingston, whose parents are Jamaican and Miami-born rapper Pitbull, whose parents are Cuban.

That series ran for seven years.

Before The Fame is expected to air internationally in October.

Howard Campbell