Interview: Macka Diamond Talks New Team, Upcoming ‘Groundbreaking’ Album, And Dancehall Legacy
If you’ve peeped Macka Diamond’s social media recently, you’d have noticed that she’s been serving looks and legacy.
Be it her appearance on mainstream US media like Way Up With Angela Yee or a series of voguish photoshoots to curate her refreshed digital identity, it’s evident that she’s up to something. Correction – big things.
The Macka Diamond brand has undergone a refreshing facelift, courtesy of a new team of creatives she’s assembled from Jamaica and The States. With the new core, she lit up stages across the US, Canada and the Caribbean this summer, including Angela Yee Day at the Barclays Center in New York last month. But she’s also expanded her presence beyond music, recently inking a brand ambassador deal with popular perfume company Dossier.
The money-manifesting entertainer is no stranger to reinvention and evolution. After all, her music debut came as Lady Charm before ultimately adopting ‘Lady Mackerel’ while working with producer King Tubby in the late 80s.
She brought luxury and flirty fun to dancehall as ‘Macka Diamond’, documented in a repertoire of hits like Done Already, Bun Him (with Black-Er), Hoola Hoop, Cow Foot and Play Tune. Fans can expect an intimate account of her journey on her upcoming third album, slated for release next year.
Fresh off the release of her new single Numb Up, she sat with DancehallMag to dish about her rebranding, future projects and life in dancehall.
You’ve managed to maintain your relevance for more than two decades, so one could argue that your formula has been working. In light of that, what inspired this new team?
That’s a great question. At this stage in my life, I’m looking to elevate my career to a level that matches my stature in dancehall as a veteran female, and I felt like I needed a new team to coordinate and facilitate that kind of elevation.
How satisfied are you with what you’ve been able to do with this team so far?
Oh my gosh! I’m 100% satisfied. We started working together towards the end of spring and everything has been uphill ever since. You nuh see how summer did hot?
What is your vision for your career now?
The vision is pretty simple but still powerful: solidifying my legacy as a woman in dancehall, while continuing to entertain my supporters and fans all over the world.
How do you see yourself in the storybook of dancehall?
I see myself as a stalwart in dancehall and one of the strongest, most impactful and most consistent women to enter the dancehall arena since the new millennium.
Are you based in The States now? I remember you leaving during the pandemic.
As in demand as I’ve been this year, I wouldn’t even really say I’m even based anywhere LOL, because I’m in a different state or country almost every week.
On to this upcoming album which will follow your debut Money-O (2006), and Don’t Disturb Mi (2011). In 2021, you said you wanted to make an album as awe-inspiring as Buju Banton’s ‘Til Shiloh. Do you still feel that way? Are you eyeing that with this album?
That is exactly what I’m doing with this album. It will be groundbreaking. It’s my first body of work in 13 years, but with everything that’s going on and after working on it for so long, it feels like my first LOL.
What can you share about this upcoming project?
It will be out in 2024 and I’m working with some legendary producers and a few international acts, and it won’t be just dancehall.