Premiere: Neelah Makes Dancehall Debut With ‘Caution’

Neelah is a fresh face and voice in Dancehall but music is not just her passion: it is her obsession. The songstress, whose real name is Cornelia Abarus, was born in the Clarendon parish of Jamaica but grew up in Kingston. Upon graduating from Ardenne High School — the same school that global Reggae superstar Koffee attended — she decided to pursue music as a career. She became a teen star after her performance of the Prayer of Jabez with the Ardenne choir for TVJ’s All-Together Sing competition and racked up many awards from her school and Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) competitions.  Neelah continued to study and grow her craft, attending Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts which deepened her passion.

For the rising Dancehall star, music is her destiny and her only plan; there is no plan B.  As part of that plan, she recently inked a deal with Cahban Rekords, a young label based out of New York.  Today, we premiere Neelah’s first single and music video for CAUTION: a catchy singalong chune that displays her lyrical prowess and vocal ability.

DancehallMag also sat down with the budding Dancehall star and she treated us to a bit of impromptu live singing, proving she is the real deal with a bubbly and gracious confidence that will carry her far in the industry.

Our conversation, lightly edited for clarity, follows.

How long have you been making Dancehall music and when did you decide to take it seriously?

When I started dancehall music professionally, originated from high school, 2015. And then 2016, I started, you know, dabbling in some stuff. Kinda figuring out where my sound is and all of that. But I started doing Dancehall music from 2016.

Nice. So you’re a bit seasoned. What inspired Caution, your style and your sound?

Actually, I was just sitting down one day and the word “caution” came to me and I was like, how am I going to put the word caution in a song? I was just sitting down outside, and I was like you know what, let me go and get a blunt, get a bit of weed, let me just hold a vibes, because I wanted to feel the energy. After I finished smoking and then I was like, aight. I’ll just listen over the riddim.

I listen to riddims for inspiration as well but I know I have the concept in my head but the idea just wasn’t flowing so… you know, I just hear the riddim instantly and then when I smoke it kinda relax my mind so all the ideas I have, it start flowing after a while. I just sat there and I was like (sings) “Caution… mi a beg you, tek time, tek time, tek time man a mi heart..” Then just start writing after that. Just a vibes. Yeah (laughs).

You’re a natural singer. I love your voice. What kind of music did you listen to growing up?

Thanks for the compliment. I listened to every genre of music. As a musician I appreciate all forms of music. I listen to reggae. Everything! Every music! Jazz and blues. Everything you can think about, I listen to dem all.

It’s great to stay well-rounded as it influences the music. You make very authentic dancehall though. Is music something you’re experimenting with or is there a full-length project? What can we expect from you?

There’s definitely a project. But right now, we are just focusing on promoting Caution. There is a follow-up single coming up in a few, probably look towards summer. Late July or early August, my birthday, I don’t know. Look out for Rewind, the second follow-up single. And probably later down in the year, there’ll be an EP. So, I mean, many more to come. 

You can keep up with Neelah on Instagram at @neelahmusic, as well as YouTube, Spotify and all digital platforms. Pree the Prof & Kryss Ras directed visuals for Caution above.