Teejay Declares 2024 His Year
Proclaiming 2024 as his year, Drift artist Teejay has declared himself the standard-bearer of the New School Dancehall and says he is prepared to ‘sacrifice sleep’ in order to push his music to greater heights.
The Montego Bay native made the declaration after his manager Sharon Burke, in commenting on a post he shared highlighting his recent Billboard Genre Now video interview, gushed about how happy she was for his successes.
“I am so proud of you!!! I cannot express it anymore. Chippy chip!!!! we got more work to do!!!! proud very proud!!!!! Thanks to the team!!!@ teejay.uptopboss,” she stated, to which Teejay replied: “@sharonburkesolidagency, ready to go hard no sleep let’s go studio radio the streets let’s do a promo tour 🙌🙌🙌”.
A while later, Teejay asserted in the same post that he was a mainstay in Dancehall who was setting the stage for the newer generation of the genre’s artists.
“I’m di face of di new school for dancehall,” he declared.
Over on Burke’s Instagram page she also shared a snippet of the Billboard interview and heaped praises on those involved in the creation of Teejay’s Billboard-charting song Drift, including in-house producer Panda.
“I am so proud of this moment. This is hard work!!! Thanks to the team!!! Panda you did it youth!!!! We have so much to be thankful for,” she had noted, to which Teejay replied: “Thank you for believing me mama.”
A former student of St. James High School, TeeJay made his debut on the Dancehall scene in 2009 with the single Starlight. He worked closely with his Montego Bay compatriot Ryme Minista, and later joined Romeich Entertainment in 2018 after an impressive performance at Reggae Sumfest.
Born Timoy Jones, Teejay, who has a rich musical background, attended the Glendevon Primary and Junior High School in St James. He wrote his first song, I know Jah,” at the age of 10, and penned “Schoolaz Anthem” at 14. During his days as a student at St James High School, he was a lead singer for the school choir, which competed in Television Jamaica’s All Together Sing competition.
In 2012, Teejay released several songs, including My Life, Summer Time, Living My Life and Move From Deh. He also teamed up with Ryme Minista and other Montego Bay artistes to form a music ensemble, handling studio engineering for songs like Rhyme Minista’s Killaz and Killaz. Their collaboration continued with singles such as They Don’t Know on the Ghetto Pain Riddim, Only Jah, and One Life.
In 2019, Teejay established his own label, Top Braff Music, and collaborated with producers such as Damage Musiq, Shab Don, and Papi Don on tracks including From Rags To Riches, Unfaithful Games, Owna Lane, Henne & Weed, Uptop Boss, Up Top, and People.
After exiting the Romeich Entertainment camp in June 2021, Teejay, had said that the departure was on amicable terms, a week after rumours began circulating online that he had parted company with the entity, in favour of having Solid Agency being his official booking agent.
Solid Agency, which was founded in 1992 by Burke and Jerome Hamilton, had as its aim the bringing of professionalism to the Jamaican entertainment industry.
Burke has been recognized for her significant contributions to the careers of iconic names in Jamaican music, including Admiral Bailey, Barrington Levy, Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Freddie McGregor, Third World, Voicemail, Aidonia, Wayne Marshall, Etana, Kiprich, Tony Matterhorn, Wyclef Jean, and I-Wayne.
Her influence extends to organizing major music events in Jamaica, among them Buju Banton’s legendary Long Walk to Freedom, Reggae Sunsplash 1995, Saddle to the East, Fully Loaded, Re-Loaded, and Overloaded. She also played a pivotal role in the Shaggy & Friends Charity Concert in 2009 and Bounty Killer’s It’s a Party.
In May 2020, she was hailed by artists such as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Wyclef Jean, Spice, and Macka Diamond as The MVP behind-the-scenes of Beenie Man and Bounty Killer’s VERZUZ Clash, as she was the one who marshaled the now-iconic production, which was witnessed by more than 3.5 million worldwide.
At the time, Verzuz Producer Swizz Beatz had also sang her praises, noting that “without Sharon”, there would be no Bounty-Beenie Verzuz clash”.