AceGawd is among a new wave of artistes making their presence felt on the dancehall scene.

The 22-year-old deejay, who hails from Manchester, which many see as the returning resident capital of Jamaica, said it wasn’t an easy road getting the recognition he now has.

“Manchester doesn’t have a dancehall culture, it’s more of a club vibes down here. I had to pound the pavement … giving out CDs to bus and taxi drivers. We also had to come Kingston and give CDs to radio stations and selectors. It was costly, but if yuh waan good, you nose affi run,” he told the Jamaica Observer‘s Splash yesterday.

Last year, AceGawd hit pay dirt with the single Mark X & Axio, produced by Caution Family Records, and has not looked back since.

“The song is based on things we’re doing in real life…things that are happening in the streets. So that’s how the song came about,” he said. “It was my first official song and me jus’ affi give thanks. I have a different style, different audience. I am the hypest thing in dancehall right now. I feed from the reaction of my crowd. Right now, I’m holding it pon a level fi Mandeville,” he said.

He pointed to two other songs, Keep On Going (Maths of Minds Productions) and Gucci Touch (Brain Freeze Records), which are gaining popularity.

AceGawd (given name Sadeki McLarty) grew up with his parents and two siblings. He said music was always his calling.

“Music has always been an attraction since primary school. Then in high school (Porus High), we used to keep club parties for money… but I’ve been writing [music] since Porus Primary days,” he said.

For AceGawd, he is now reaping the fruits of his hard work.

“It has been a fun experience. Just to meet other artistes, celebs and disc jocks and also to travel. I travelled to Panama in March to do a video shoot [for the song All I Want] and it was great. The feedback has been great,” he told Splash.

He is concerned about the rising crime levels in the island. He believes if Jamaica is to flourish, more job opportunities need to be provided for young people.

“The Government needs to give the youths more jobs… more opportunities. At the end of the day, not everybody cut out for every kind of work. For example, graphic artists, I hire them to make covers for me because that’s their skill and everybody have different talent and skills. Remember, if dem cyaa feed dem family, you know how dat go? So the government need fi provide more jobs,” he said.

He has sights set on a global scene.

“In the next five years, I want to start getting some Grammys and grow internationally… get on the US chart and grow and mature more as an artiste,” he explained.

He is currently working on tracks to be released later this year.