ZJ Liquid is just over a week away from releasing his latest rhythm project, the heavily acoustic Melodies, the follow-up to last summer’s Maybach rhythm and which hosts the voices of entertainers such as Jah Cure, Tarrus Riley and Jah Vinci.

“It’s a rhythm mixed with a whole lot of guitar, a whole lot of acoustics, nuff feelings inna it. More soothing reggae…” is how the dreadlocked disc jock who was born Michael Brissett, describes his latest work.

Quite excited about the Melodies, Liquid is also beaming about the recently forged alliance with beverage giant Red Stripe, which will see him endorsing Red Stripe brands and its brand message “using popular culture and music”.

As part of the agreement, Liquid, whose image will be seen on billboards, is charged with spreading the word about the responsible consumption of alcohol and will be one of the main DJs at Red Stripe-sponsored events.

Outside entertainment circles, ZJ Liquid, the top jock on Zip FM, is rapidly becoming known, not only for his skills on the turntables, but as a producer and deejay as well. And while that may come as a surprise to many, Liquid says that for those who have been following his career over the years, his deejaying skills are nothing new.

“I’ve been deejaying from I was in Montego Bay. That is how Delly Ranks became the first to record me here in 2010, because he used to come to Montego Bay frequently,” Liquid reveals.

Back then Liquid, known as DJ Lippo, hosted a talent parade for young deejays in Montego Bay and he would unwittingly show off his own skills while introducing the acts. It was something he did for fun and shrugged off the promptings of friends who believed that he should pursue deejaying as a career.

“The man dem used to say ‘why you no deejay’ and me use to say, ‘a music me play’,” he said, laughing heartily at the memory.

More recently, he has been showing off those skills again during the programme, Countdown on ZIP with Johnny Cool, prompting renewed calls for him to give his hidden talents a chance to shine. Earlier this year, at the behest of his long-time friend Don Corleon, Liquid got serious in the studio and came up with a number of singles.

He voiced a number of songs, most notable one for TJ Records called Chant A Psalm and a combination with dancehall bad gyal Ce’Cile. “I have a one-drop single coming out for Don (Corleon). He is working on a project called Major and Minor, two one-drop rhythms. Major is happier. We can’t make the music dark now, we have to try and lift the people’s spirits,” he said.

Liquid is also an accomplished producer with six years of experience and success under his belt. His 2004 effort, French Vanilla, enabled him to strike a deal Greensleeves Records and singles from that production ended up on Reggae Gold, a compilation that charted in Jamaica, the Caribbean, New York and Miami. He later produced Slow Bounce, a rhythm that featured songs by Beenie Man, Bounty Killer as well as Tami Chynn, with whom Liquid has worked with since her entering the industry.

He also produced Vybz Kartel and has worked with Stephen McGregor, and Buju Banton. “It was really a pleasure to work with Buju Banton because Buju is the first person to inspire me to buy a record — Browning,” he recalled.

The song he produced for Buju, Hey Boy, was on the deejay’s Grammy nominated album Too Bad and is also featured on a video game.