Dancehall-reggae artiste Mwata Modala has been gaining traction with the viral club-banger ‘Eh Gal‘ on the Shake It to the Max rhythm.

“The response to ‘Eh Gal‘ has been phenomenal, it just proves to me seh you never know what song a go change yuh life cah mi neva expect it fi tek off so big, considering it was just a freestyle I did for fun. Big up mi bredda Lando the dancehall mechanic, a him buss it over TikTok, and the rest a history,” the artiste said.

The single, which is accompanied by a visually-striking music video, has racked up almost 30,000 views on YouTube, and gone viral on Tik Tok, generating thousands of views and multiple reposts.

During the summer, he has continued to crank up the promotion on the project, even as the original ‘Shake It To the Max‘ remix climbs up Billboard and international charts.

“It’s amazing to see everyone gravitate to the Eh Gal song. Right now mi just a gwan stay focused and put in the work to show the world seh mi deserve a place inna music,” he said.

He recently performed in Ansonia, Connecticut on July 26th, and he has several upcoming gigs including a show called Lust in St Ann on December 27th.

“Yeah, I have a few upcoming US dates but I’m really excited about my first performance in Jamaica, mi ago rough up da stage deh,” he vowed.

Born in 1985 in the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mwata gravitated to music while he traveled to recording studios with his father, who would encourage him to spit lyrics into the microphone.

At age 14, he began to sneak into dancehall parties with his friends and he soon voiced his first dubplate. He started doing hip-hop and earned a rep as one of the toughest battle rappers in the city, performing under the name ‘Bonez,’ one of his childhood nicknames.

After doing a dubplate for a deeply personal ‘Don’t Cry’ song in memory of ‘Jigga,’ a New York selector who had died at the time, Mwata gained notoriety in his Bridgeport community, and among Jamaicans on the east coast of the USA. Then for personal reasons, he took an extended break from the business.

Now that he has returned, Mwata Modala is gunning for dancehall’s top spot. In July, he dropped a new freestyle, ‘Forever,’ recorded on Rvssian’s popular Story Book rhythm. Although the song has not been officially released, fans have been eagerly calling for its approval with several hundred reshares from top IG pages in Jamaica.

“I am just putting in the work,” he said.

-Claude Mills