A bona fide dancehall veteran, Wayne Lyrics’s delivery bears the ruggedness he developed as a youth performing on sound systems in Spanish Town. That sound can be heard on I Conquered, his latest album.

Released September 30, the 16-song set is produced by Wayne Lyrics for his Reggae Waves Records. He went for a certain theme with a distinct sound.

“My idea for this project is to do this album with 100 per cent of positive lyrics to teach truths and rights throughout the world, so that people can listen to it and motivate themselves. What I tried different with this album is get 90 per cent of the tracks harmonised to give it a sweeter sound so that everyone can gravitate to it much quicker,” he said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

The title song Crying For The Poor, She’s Going Away, Rasta Love Song, and Hold On featuring fellow veteran Michael Buckley are the tracks Wayne Lyrics has high hopes for.

An interesting inclusion is Everyday is A Gunshot, a collaboration with Anthony Johnson. It is a cover of Gunshot, the latter’s 1982 dancehall classic.

“The idea to cover Gunshot was Anthony Johnson. My brethren, singer Nereus Joseph, play over the riddim track for me and I recorded it as a solo, then one day Anthony Johnson came to the studio to do the same song on a dub plate and he heard my song, then he turned to me and said, ‘Hey, Lyrics, you can’t release that song and I’m not on it’. Then we decide to do the collab with Gunshot,” Lyrics explained.

Born in Carron Hall, St Mary, Wayne Lyrics defines the journeyman dancehall artiste. According to his estimate, he has recorded over 300 songs and released six albums since making his debut in 1989 with Don’t dis The Programme.

Making his name on sound systems like Jack Ruby, King Sana and President Hi-Fi, Wayne Lyrics also recorded songs for Sugar Minott, Barry O’Hare and Runn Records out of The Netherlands.

He moved to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s. His first album, Poor People A Bawl, came out in 2000.