IF you walk into Susie’s Bakery and Coffee Bar in Southdale Plaza, Kingston, and ask for Jerome, regular diners and staff will quickly point to the quiet, affable youngster who greets patrons with a ready smile and performs his job with efficiency.

However, 21-year-old Jerome Dawkins has an alter ego — a musical personality that, based on his recordings so far, can propel him to the pinnacle of the entertainment industry. But that, of course, will require a lot of hard work and, yes, luck.

A YouTube or SoundCloud search won’t yield any results for Jerome Dawkins. However, if you type the name Jerry Spinit you’ll be exposed to the commendable talent of this singjay son of St Catherine who, just two weeks ago, released his latest single Summer Flex.

Spinit’s eyes light up as he talks about the recording, done on the 48 Hours rhythm.

“This one is hot because it big up the major parties in Jamaica — Dream Weekend, Chug It, Flex Week, Absolute Crave,” he tells the Jamaica Observer.

YouTube viewership has already climbed above 220 and he’s getting encouraging comments about the song recorded at Audio Traxx Production in Old Harbour.

In fact, tomorrow night Spinit is scheduled to perform the single at Lifestyle Saturdayz, a fortnightly event hosted at 401 Sports Bar ‘n’ Grill at Mannings Hill Road in Kingston with music by DJ Naz and friends.

Spinit says the invitation to perform on the show that exposes young talent came after he sent the song to DJ Naz and “she said she liked it”.

“So I said, that’s a good opportunity,” he tells Splash.

Tomorrow night’s performance comes after a recent gig at Triple Century Sports Bar in New Kingston which his cousin, Carl Dawkins Jr, was influential in arranging.

“It was good, actually,” Spinit says, explaining that the patrons responded positively to another of his singles, titled On The Rise, “because it’s a cultural song”.

His involvement in the industry is not surprising, given his family’s musical heritage, with the most famous of them being Carl Dawkins known for a number of hits, among them Satisfaction, Picture On The Wall, This Land, Dreadful Situation, and Ethiopia.

Spinit remembers that his father and uncle owned a sound system and he would listen as they deejayed to the songs they played.

“So when I went to primary school I used to sing my father’s songs, and people would ask ‘that’s your song?’ and I would say ‘yes, man, ah my song’,” he relates, laughing at the memory.

When he was seven years old his teacher at Marlie Mount Primary School gave him a class project to write a song or a poem about tropical storms that affected Jamaica.

He went home, wrote the song — his first — and, when it came time to deliver, he performed in front of his class.

“When I was singing it to the class everybody was silent and when ah finish everybody start rail up,” he says.

But even after that experience, Spinit says he didn’t start being serious about music until last February when he did his first studio recording called Summer Wine.

Since then, he’s written all his songs, working with producer Lamar Thompson.

When he left primary school Spinit went to St Catherine High in 2005, graduated five years later then studied Hospitality and Tourism Management at Portmore Community College.

Spinit says that during his second year there he started singing to his classmates, other schoolmates and his teacher who, on realising his potential, suggested that he perform at parties and shows staged by the college.

“That’s how I started to overcome the shyness, because I was really, really shy,” he admits.

Last summer he entered the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission ‘Big Stage’ competition and won an award for being the Best Singjay in St Catherine. “That was a good achievement,” he says.

His discography, for now, is small and includes a collaboration, titled Represent, with rapper FinnyCapp from Virginia in the USA.

That song, he says, is available on SoundCloud and is receiving “good response so far”.

He has also released a four-track CD which, he says, has been getting radio play in Africa, England and the Cayman Islands.

“I hope to let the world know about Jerry Spinit, listen to my songs, feel the positive energy that I have to share with people, and have fun listening to music,” he tells Splash.