“CEN-C’S distinctive voice resonates with the individual style of her Jamaican origins. Though born in the US, Cen-C is, at core, a yardie. And she flexes wid a yardie vibe. You hear the heartical Jamaican language in all her lyrics. And she deals with many of the troubling issues that Jamaican society forces her to confront,” were some of the sentiments used to describe the upcoming singer, daughter of reggae stalwart Bunny Wailer, by Professor Carolyn Cooper.

Cooper, who was the guest speaker at the launch of Cen-C’s album Love Letter, had high praises for the singer’s debut effort.

“Cen-C’s extended Love Letter pays attention to all kinds of love. First, of course, is sexual love with all its pleasures and pains,” stated Cooper adding that the timing for Love Letter’s release was just right “as it has come out just in time to catch the Valentine’s Day market. Like Black History Month and Halloween, Valentine’s Day is one of those commercialised American rituals that we’ve copied in our typical follow-fashion way. But in this instance I do hope Valentine’s Day will spike sales of this magnificent CD,” she said.

“Love Letter also celebrates self-love and acceptance of our natural attributes such as skin colour and hair texture. On the track These Lies, Cen-C draws attention to the way we deceive ourselves as we foolishly try to change our bodies to suit other people’s distorted definitions of who we should be,” said the professor as she quoted a few lines from the track to the enjoyment of those who turned out at Studio 38 on Wednesday.

Cooper told the gathering that she first heard Cen-C perform at the Peter Tosh Symposium last year at the University of the West Indies when she joined Andrew Tosh in a tribute to his dad and it was clear not only to her but to those in the audience that “the musical talent had safely crossed over from Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer to the next generation. Cen-C was simply riveting. Like a high-grade spliff, I’ve been told, she took us to higher heights.”

Cen-C, before performing tracks from Love Letter, expressed gratitude to all those who had given their support. She was happy that a lot of “aunts, cousins, mom and friends,” were there to give their support. Notable missing was her dad Bunny Wailer.

Among the tracks on Love Letter are These Lies, Paradise, Hey You, Ghetto Slang, Gave You My Love, Feel Good and the title track Love Letter.