The Jamaica Observer ‘s Entertainment Desk continues its daily year in review of people who made an impact during 2017.

IamStylezMusic

Iamstylezmusic is a relative unknown in Jamaica. But when his debut album Back to My Roots spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Reggae Album chart last summer, music insiders began to take notice.

The Portmore-based deejay, whose real name is Sheldon Ellington, utilised social media and digital marketing to score with music consumers. To date, Back to My Roots has sold over 6,000 copies, according to Nielsen Music.

“My success on the Billboard chart is a result of hard work, dedication, touring, and targeting the demographic that actually buys music,” IamStylezMusic told Splash. “To be honest, it’s a great accomplishment, but I don’t feel accomplished because I still have a long way to go with this album. A lot of people still nuh hear the album yet, so I have a lot of ground to cover!”

Two songs from Back to My Roots, It’s a Pitty and Mama Africa, have racked up impressive views on YouTube. His latest single, Skeleton Fresh, is getting strong airplay on local radio.

On Billboard Magazine’s yearend charts, IamStylezMusic was featured at number five on the publication’s Reggae Top 15 Albums of 2017 and Top Reggae Albums Artists charts.

“This is definitely a major milestone in my career because a lot of artistes have been doing music for years and have never graced the Billboard charts. This has exposed me to markets and platforms I was never exposed or accepted before now,” he said.

Among the producers who worked on Back to My Roots are Jaycrazie, ChinGigante, Mindkeys, D Tek, Oge Beats, Dj Soupa Model, Natty Don and (the late) True Blue. “Stylez”also produced some of the tracks.

IamStylezMusic recently signed deals with Monster Products and a licensing agreement with Zumba. He also appeared at last month’s Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, as well as performed at the African Heavyweight Championship fight between Faisal Arrami and Junior Maximus in Cape Verde.