For up-and-coming artiste Hydal, he had no other option but to become an entertainer as he was raised around music.

The artiste whose given name is Akeem Robinson told OBSERVER ONLINE that he grew up seeing his father on a sound system and his mother singing in the choir at church.

“I grew up and see my father doing music too. Me father did have a sound and him used to DJ on it and my mother used to sing on choir so it’s like music did just in my blood. Me grow up surrounded by music,” Hydal said.

“From Cooreville [Gardens] to Spanish Town, those were my two yards, so when I was at Cooreville the bigger youth dem used to a deejay and we would catch it from them so everywhere me go it (music) follow me, its natural,” the artiste said.

Even though he grew up around music, he did not take it seriously until about 2010 when his first recorded song was released. He entered Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall five years later where he was a runner-up in the seventh season of the competition.

“I officially started to do music like about 10 years now to be honest. My first recorded and officially released song was called ‘Money Friend’ and it was released in 2010. So from them time me start take up the thing serious and then in 2015, I entered Magnum Kings and Queens and I was a runner-up,” Hydal explained.

He said that the competition has had a big influence on his music career as he has grown into a better performer.

“Magnum helped me in a lot of ways enuh, especially in stage performance like how I would react to the crowd and all of that. Even now I am a better performer because Magnum give me that base,” the 31-year-old said.

“It’s a great experience because you on live TV every Saturday; people are seeing you plus you have an audience in front of you that you have to please so I would say that it make me brave. I was not this brave before Magnum, I was more of a studio artiste— I would go in the studio go record but me never like go in front of a crowd and Magnum build up that,” he added.

Hydal described himself as an artiste who does a mixture of dancehall and reggae music, but he said that no matter the genre, he aims to remain relatable. His song ‘Board House’ which gained much popularity during his time on Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall, and ‘Rental’ which was released in 2020 are two that Hydal said his fans can easily sing along and relate to.

The artiste told OBSERVER ONLINE that his music, which can be found on YouTube and all digital streaming platforms, has been well received by his fan base, but his aim is to reach even more people through social media.

“I have my fan base who support me with everything weh me put out and me get good feedback from my fans dem. But my aim now is to build on the fan base and get people in tune to what I am doing,” Hydal said.

“So I am getting more social media friendly because music reach on a social media level now and I plan to reach out to them using things by using things that are happening now in my lyrics and say some things that are interesting to get their attention and make them start talk about it,” he added.

He went on to state that he is also keeping his image “sharp too so every time them see me, them know seh a me”, adding that he recently cut his hair from his signature locked hair look. However the artiste said, even without his signature style, “a Hydal same way”.

Hydal hopes to grow his name and brand to one that is known locally and internationally such as the likes of Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer.

“My hope for my music career is for Hydal to become a household name, so it can be known by many worldwide. I want to fill out some stadiums too and collect a couple Grammys so we can really see what we doing the work for. For all of the late nights in studio and all of the night weh me bleach inna dance fi make sure me song get play, I want to see the reward for it. So me a go for it man,” Hydal said.