Dancehall-reggae artiste Shabako is ecstatic that his most recent single, Faith , is living up to expectations.

Released jointly on the LiveWyah Records, 1Family Records and OH Canada Productions imprints on November 20, the song has racked up several thousand views on YouTube on Shabako’s channel.

“People keep on telling me this is the song and that they feel like it’s speaking about them… they can relate to it, that’s why it has taken off so well,” he said.

He said he got the inspiration to pen the song while working at his day job at a grocery wholesaler business.

“I was at work one day weighing out some rice, flour, etc, and while doing so I started thinking of the hard times I’ve been through even up to present time. I want my two boys to have the life I never had and so many dreams to accomplish and make a reality but in the midst of all the thinking, I remembered the words of my late grandmother: ‘Faith moves mountains’,” he said.

He then began to focus his emotions, penning the lyrics while listening to an instrumental while he toiled.

“I started to pour my feelings into the beat and Faith was the end result to mark the beginning of something new. It is a joy because this is what I’ve been waiting on for a long time. Even some of the major players of the industry have reached out to me and told me that this is a very powerful song,” he said.

Shabako’s management has bankrolled a video given the success of the song and he will be releasing the video on December 12, 2021 at 12 noon.

Born Dwayne Shabako Stewart in the parish of Kingston, he moved to the parish of Westmoreland at age three to live with his paternal grandmother where he spent the next 15 years of his life. He attended Maud McLeod High School where he often entered the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s Festival for schools as a drummer.

He spent the next formative teenage years in Eltham Park in Spanish Town where he grew up with his mother and other relatives. Music remained an essential aspect of the family as his uncle owned a sound system, Warr Paxx International, where he would hone his skills.

He returned to Kingston and began to perform under the name Kritical and recorded It Seems to Rain featuring Jada Kingdom in 2016.

Years later, he relocated to live in St Thomas and discovered Rastafari and changed his name to Shabako.

“My lyrics are now geared at a cleaner, healthier, soul-rendering style, enough for mamma to hold a vibes and listen to,” he said.