Zhayna Celebrates The Joy Of ‘Outside’

Reggae fusion singer Zhayna is relishing the positive feedback to her latest project, Outside, a song celebrating the return to life, as the world once knew it without virtual engagements in sweatpants, and an official end to the island’s COVID-19 restrictions.

“The song was written as a celebration of being outside again after the end of COVID-19 where everybody was free, without travel restrictions and sheltering in place and so on. I wrote the song before the restrictions were lifted, so it was like a manifestation of that, a celebration of sorts,” she explained. 

The song was released on the Trifactor Studios label on March 18, 2022, the day after COVID-19 restrictions ended in Jamaica. The single, which was produced Kalex, did well on Spotify where it racked up over 10,000 streams and generated a buzz for the spunky diminutive Zhayna. 

Fast forward two years, and she has decided to drop a video for the single, bankrolled by her new management team.

“My management team, Artekal Music, decided to do the video because at the time, it was my most listened to single in my catalogue so it made sense to do the video,” Zhayna said. 

Zhayna, who inked a recording contract with US indie label Artekal Music in 2023, has been confirmed as an opening act of the upcoming Roots and Culture tour will kick off in Berlin, Germany on March 1. 

The tour will then head to Dortmund, with stops in Groningen, Amsterdam and Deventer in The Netherlands. Other stops include the cities of Lille and Rennes in France, and then Bilbao in Spain on March 16th. The tour snakes through regions of France before ending in Paris on March 27.

Zhayna debuted in November 2020 with her release ‘Runaway’. She is best known for the breakout single, Outside, which has racked up impressive numbers across all the streaming platforms.

She has solidified a decent following throughout the diaspora with other songs like ‘I Love The Way’ and ‘Before Daylight’.

She has performed at concerts and festivals all over the US, UK, Europe, the Caribbean and Dubai. She has also appeared on BBC 1xtra’s Big Yard sessions in Jamaica.