IT has been a while since dancehall singjay Khago sat atop of the charts. This, according to him, will change in short order with the release of his latest single Kip It Real Wid Mi Friend.

“Mi sure it is gonna be a hit. Mi jus’ feel it. It is about real friends that stay with you through thick and thin… It is like another Nah Sell Out Mi Friend Dem,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The single is produced by LMR Productions and slated to be released in the “next couple of weeks”.

Khago said he has had a busy roster with several American gigs, but uses the time wisely to do some soul-searching.

“Mi just step away fi di moment… move myself from the company and do some self-evaluation. Things nuh bother me again. Mi feel mi grow musically too, wid even some better melody. Right now, thing a forward back. The Khago syndrome a ketch on,” he said.

“Look out fi artiste Baydan. He come from Trinidad and him a gwan good in a New York.”

The singjay said he is not perturbed by people who think he is living in the shadow of his smash hit Nah Sell Out Mi Friend.

“Look at Omi, it a go hard fi him top cheerleader which was done in 2012. Look at Half Pint wid Greetings… and I could go on and on. A just so the music thing set up… but just watch. You haffi patient. Mi a do music fi last, not music fi loss,” he said.

As for the local music industry, he helieves it’s on a better plane than previous years.

“There’s no gimmicks, right now. It a run much smoother. Mi like what me seeing with Sizzla son and the conscious music. People soon waan hear more Beres (Hammond) and Luciano… nuh gal and gun tune,” he said.

Khago (real name Ricardo Gayle) got his first taste of the spotlight by placing third in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s Popular Song Contest with If you Know in 2006. In 2010 he got national recognition with his breakout hit Nah Sell Out. The following year, the Tun Up Di Thing singer was nominated for Best Reggae Act in the MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Award.

“For me, I just a continue to do good music. So when the people ready, mi inna di line stand up,” he said.

— Brian Bonitto