LAST year when the Wiletunes label decided to relaunch the revered Far East beat, singer Izula was one of the artistes selected to record on it.

He covered True Love, originally done in the 1980s by singer White Mice on that ‘riddim’ for producer Lloyd ‘King Jammys’ James.

“Is a song mi love from long time, from dance days, so is a great feeling fi do it my way,” said the 40-year-old artiste.

Izula’s Wiletunes sessions were done last summer. They also yielded Thunderball, a ‘spiritual song’ which was released in September.

In addition to Wiletunes, Izula has been working on new songs with the Firehouse Crew, a band responsible for numerous hit songs by Ini Kamoze, Sizzla and Luciano.

Born Otis Channer, he is from the rural St Catherine community of McCook’s Pen. He began recording in 1999, with his first release being Hold it Down, a song with dub poet DYCR.

Since then, he has recorded and toured Europe with singers Junior Kelly and Lutan Fyah, performing on major festivals such as Summerjam in Germany.

True Love is considered a dancehall classic and still rocks the dance when it is played. Izula believes his version will have similar impact.

— Howard Campbell