In his decade-long career in music, up-and-coming artiste Mordeki has taken on the role of talent and producer.

The artiste, given name Travis Reid, told OBSERVER ONLINE that he was exposed to singing at a very young age but got into “creating beats” while he was in fifth form at Ardenne High.

“My earliest memory of singing is in basic school leading the graduation song and then in primary school in JCDC (Jamaica Cultural Development Commission) competitions as well. It was from there now that people would call me to sing at any little function and at church, and then in high school, I started to get bookings for government functions, weddings and stuff like tha, so I had that professional experience from then,” he explained.

Investing in a professional music career was he next logicals step for Mordeki.

“I didn’t choose it (music); it made me do it. When I was in high school, I was singing but not expecting anything from it. But then I would go and perform at a wedding and I would see money coming in and I was like ‘oh them want pay me fi do this?’” the 27-year-old explained.

He soon realised, though, that the music industry isn’t without its issues. He said that finding resources is the hardest part of forging a music career. For Mordeki, forging connections and making ‘links’ is key to getting a ‘big bus’.

He also pointed out that many artistes do not have control over their music, which led him to become a producer.

“The industry forces us as artists to be producers. I am a great singer, deejay, and songwriter. But instead of being able to just focus on that and just being the artiste, we have to sacrifice roles from that aspect and make ‘riddim’,” he said.

He told OBSERVER ONLINE that he does not necessarily want to be a producer, but many people do not understand the vision he has for his music.

“Other people who don’t understand your vision and where you want to take things – it can be annoying when they want to direct everything. I am not the kind of person who won’t take suggestions, but most of the time it is not like that. It is about them completely changing things and every artiste has an idea of how he wants things to go.”

The decision to be a producer and an artiste, however, has helped Mordeki. He told OBSERVER ONLINE that he has a new production coming out with a label named Christeesmuzik, which should feature some popular names in the music industry.

When asked about his hopes for his music career, Mordeki said with his musical talents there is no limit to what he can achieve.

“No limit, no limit at all on my career. Doing music for so long and still being passionate about it, I realise that it is not going to leave me; it is always going to be there with me so there is no limit to where I can go,” he said.

The reggae/dancehall artiste disclosed that as a deep thinker, his music is often introspective, while he also tries to uplift others. Samples of Mordeki’s music can be found on YouTube.