MONTEGO BAY, St James – For reggae singer Teedeh Emmanuel, learning to be humble and waiting your turn are lessons he has been learning from the music industry for the last two decades, but he is not discouraged as he believes his time is coming up.

The Montego Bay native, whose real name is Clive Allen, describes his musical style as “conscious reggae with a lot of passion”, as he aims to enlighten and spread positivity with his music.

He explained that he started singing in church at the young age of nine and his passion for the art grew as he did.

“I was brought up doing music. I started singing in a choir at church [and] I then went on to do solo pieces – and I haven’t stopped singing since,” said Emmanuel.

“I just love music wholeheartedly. It is my passion. Music is power, music will live on forever, and I will continue doing it as long as I can,” he added.

Emmanuel is no stranger to the local stage as he has performed at various hotels and stage shows across the island, but he has dreams to go beyond the local scene as he aims to tour Africa one day.

“I have shared a stage with a number of big acts such as Christopher Martin, Romain Virgo, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer. These are some artistes in the industry that I admire,” explained Emmanuel.

“I would love to collaborate with Romain Virgo and Buju Banton in the future. I love their consciousness and musical style. I want my music to go international too, that’s my dream.”

Emmanuel also credits his supporters for the encouragement and motivation to release new music.

“I have always had supporters. I have a lot of persons asking me for new music and they fully support me, even though I am not where I want to be, and I give thanks for that. They push me to do what I do,” said Emmanuel.

New music, he says, is in the pipeline as he recently recorded songs to be later released in the coming months. His most recently released single, Outburst, speaks to the global coronavirus pandemic but can be used to describe any future pandemics also. Emmanuel explained that this song perfectly captures the emotions shared by people of all walks of life, across the globe.

“People are really gravitating towards my new single Outburst. I am getting a positive response in the streets because people are appreciating the message. It is a generalised song so whatever pandemic is around, it will possess the same significance and effects,” he said.