While growing up in Trinidad, Ola Kesi Tempro was influenced by several musical genres from a young age. Now pursuing a career in music, she has earned the respect of several Jamaican dancehall personalities including Bounty Killer, Shane E and Romeich Entertainment boss, Romeich Major.

A year ago, Kesi won the Magnum SummerStage TT Spotlight competition with a song that Bounty Killer encouraged her to perform.

“Winning the Magnum SummerstageTT Spotlight competition was a dream come true for me as an aspiring artiste: I had been waiting and praying for a platform where I could showcase my talent to the world, but I was still a bit jaded from my early experiences and I hesitated to enter. I was a late, perhaps the last entrant and I literally begged the organisers to consider my entry still as it had been submitted just seconds after the deadline time,” Kesi recalled in an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week while she was on a visit to Jamaica.

“I really wasn’t going to enter, but my sister encouraged me and then out of nowhere and after two years in his DMs, on Instagram, dancehall icon, Bounty Killer endorsed one of my songs as worthy of the competition, so that boosted my confidence and made me enter at the last minute,” she said.

She continued, “The pinnacle of that competition for me thus far was gracing the stage alongside some of dancehall’s top acts like Teejay, Jada Kingdom, Valiant and Jashii at SummerstageTT 2023 and the next great milestone will be claiming the recording prize with Romeich Major. I will be doing some work with Romeich.”

Kesi grew up in a musical household where both her parents were musically inclined, and she admits that the rich musical traditions in her family played a crucial role in shaping her artistic journey.

“My father is a Rastaman who loves reggae and my mother is a Christian, who loves gospel music. Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Lord Kitchener and Super Blue were some of my earlier musical influences. I had a very diverse musical palette growing up,” Kesi, whose musical style combines both soca and dancehall, said.

She participated in and won soca and calypso monarch competitions during her primary and secondary school years.

“At that age, there was little to no fear and nothing to deter me from competing and performing to the best of my ability. I enjoyed it and I won two titles. One with soca at primary school and one in calypso at secondary school,” she said.

Her sister Keda Tempro, who has been making a name for herself on the Trinidad soca music scene, has been an inspiration to her.

“She was the one who encouraged me to get back into writing and singing after a long break, as she is a Theatre Arts teacher and an awesome singer/songwriter herself. She always supports me, advises me and is there to keep pushing me and keeping me grounded,” she said.

Kesi made her recording debut in the year 2006 with On D Road and Carnival.

Asked what she brings to the table musically, Tempro said “⁠I am bringing a unique fusion of all my influences like calypso, gospel, jazz, reggae, but they’re formatted in the language of now, which comprises soca and dancehall, so we are calling it ‘SoDa’.”

Winning the Magnum SummerStageTT Spotlight last year has helped to raise her profile musically.

“⁠I was able to meet and interact with some of the stars and industry personnel on the night of the concert: I met the Magnum Top Performa from Jamaica, Jubba and a legend like Spragga Benz who came with Jashii. I just recognised him and approached him backstage, and he was very cool and respectful.

“I also met Romeich Major that night and on the night I won the competition I met my new manager, Nigel Telesford from Overtime Media, who has a lot of experience in the music industry and later agreed to share his advice, expertise and encouragement with me, which has allowed me to get more airplay, more opportunities and interviews like this one. I am always grateful and this sequence of positive experiences makes me feel like things are going in the right direction and gives me the drive and determination to work hard and claim my success and destiny. If it wasn’t for the Magnum SummerStageTT Spotlight competition, I might still be working my day job only and may not have pursued my musical ambitions,” Tempro confided.

Her latest single, Money, produced by Jesse Beats, was released on July 24.