Before he began working on his first album early last year, singjay Cement Kidd believed a new moniker was in order to suit his fresh approach to music. In March last year as production commenced on The Next Chapter, he became C K Pragmatic.

The Next Chapter was released in late 2019 and contains songs like A Chapter A Day and Blessings, which reflects a new dawn for the Manchester-born artiste.

“It is important to me to sing songs with the quality and value of everyday life, inspiring, uplifting and encouraging people with my music,” C K Pragmatic, who lives in New York, told the Jamaica Observer. “I see this album as a new beginning for me.”

The album also includes the autobiographical My Life, which acknowledges his career origins in the early 1990s as Cement Kidd.

C K Pragmatic was born Winston Francis. Strongly influenced by Papa San, who was the rage at the time, he got into music as Cement Kidd, performing on sound systems and recording songs for different producers.

He made enough of an impact to tour as the opening act for Lady Saw on her Passion tour in the late 1990s.

The Next Chapter is produced by Peligro Music, an independent company based in New York City. C K Pragmatic says each of its songs has a message, a reflection of his growth as an artiste and a person.

It seemed only natural then, that he had a change in stage name.

“My reason for changing my name? I felt like the kid has grown into a strong, positive and inspiring artiste,” he said.

— Howard Campbell