FORMER Jamaica College (JC) footballer, Kemar “Zidane” Francis has hung up his boots and taken up the microphone to fulfil his musical ambitions.

Francis — who performs under the moniker Don Pree — is currently promoting Release The Beast, produced by Devaro Productions. It was released two weeks ago.

“On the track I went intellectual and use my JC brain. Recently I have been lowering the music to please people but this song exercises my lyrical potency. Listen it and expect to hear lyrics that will last for weeks and months!” the 29-year-old told the Jamaica Observer.

Francis — who represented JC at the Under-14, Under-16, and the Manning Cup level — said it was during high school that he became fascinated with music.

“We use to have our own version of the popular stage show Sting; we called it Stung and engaged in lyrical clashes. At the time I did not deejay, I was just the baller enjoying the man dem a clash. I enjoyed the vibe it gave me and said to a friend, ‘I would love to learn how to deejay, ‘ “ he said.

Francis said he would use every opportunity to practise.

“I would wake up in the morning and start to freestyle amongst my friends, and they would recommend that I consider music as a career path. So from then, I gave it some thought and decided to venture into the world of music,” he said.

He got his break in 2008 when a schoolmate, Yung Jr, son of veteran reggae singer Junior Reid, took him to his father’s studio.

“My first song was called Time To Shine and was conceptualised to express that I felt it was my moment of glory; my time to reveal to the world my musical skill and ability. It got the thumbs up from Yung Jr, the producer, and other individuals who were present at the studio at the time,” he said.

The singer, who hails from the Grants Pen community in Kingston, remixed Stefflon Don’s Hurtin Me in 2017 and renamed it No Breakfast In Bed. The song generated a great deal of buzz.

“The remix amassed a great number of views on the various social media platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. I also made a link with selector Boom Boom and he blast it inna Boom Sundays [in the community], and the people them love it. Boom Sundays really gave it the promotion the song needed and more selectors started to request the song,” said Francis.

The fledging deejay said it hasn’t been a smooth journey, but he’s determined to make it.

“I remember performing one year at Up To The Line and the instruction was: ‘Young artiste one song and move!’ I was really upset because I had a line-up [of songs] that I planned to perform. I remember the emcee saying: ‘Next up, Don Pree’. There was a lot of cheering and screaming before I went onto the stage. I said to myself: ‘Wow. A so much people know me?’ When I started to perform, the energy I received was phenomenal! So I did my one song and was coming of the stage and the emcee said: ‘Weh u a go youth? Run more tune! You no see the people them love you!’ I ended up performing four songs before finally coming off the stage,” he said.

Francis also runs his own record label, 8 Ball Productions. The label has released singles for various artistes, including 6ix-based artiste Rozzaro, Eagle, and J GAD.

Francis’s songs includes Top Boss, Money Remedy, Takeover, and Rite Yah Suh.