SHE is the sole female nominated in the Best Reggae Recording category of this year’s Juno Awards, but Tasha T certainly is not there to make up numbers.

Her album, Real Talk, is nominated alongside recordings from Steele, Mikey Dangerous, Kirk Diamond and three-time winner Exco Levi.

This is Tasha T’s second Juno nomination. The singer was previously called in 2000 for the single Dem Need More Love.

“I am deeply humbled and blessed to be nominated. I’m elated and honoured,” Tasha T told the Jamaica Observer, noting that a “lot of blood, sweat and tears” went into producing the set which is distributed by VP Records.

“I started out at Real Links studio in Kingston with Fyah Fashion and Paul Patchy Wright working on some singles. I then approached (producers) Computer Paul, Bobby Digital, Mikey Bennett, Syl Gordon, Steve Golding, Sheldon Stewart, Danny Maestro and Rory Baker for fresh new rhythms and productions,” she disclosed. “After that I started working on the lyrics and the whole concept of my album.”

Real Talk was released on May 5, celebrated by Ethiopians and Rastafarians as Ethiopian Liberation Day. On that day in 1941, the east African country won their independence from Italy.

“I released the album on that particular date because it holds a special historical meaning to me, representing the victory of good over evil and life over death, and also because the album is filled with positive messages,” Tasha T explained. “I also thought that it would be the most appropriate day to launch the Real Talk message which is being true to yourself and keeping it real.”

Born in Toronto to Jamaican parents, Tasha T (real name Natasha Whyte) said it has not always been easy for her. One of the biggest career challenges, she stated, is a gender bias in reggae.

“There’s the struggle of getting out my message to the world, and securing the support and recognition needed to obtain bookings to survive as a full-time working artiste,” she reasoned. “I have experienced so many highs, and writing is one of them, because it gives me a tremendous sense of power knowing that I can write from my heart and use that voice to try to make a difference in the world. What erases the pain of struggle is performing.”

In addition to Dem Need More Love, Tasha T is known in Canada for songs such as Win or Lose, Old Fashioned Love, New Day, Hold Me, Rectify and Only a Woman Know.7