A student of music, Etana knows how critical 'riddims' are to getting artistes that big hit song. She recently released her own beat, 'Freemind', which is produced by her Freemind Music Records. Twelve songs are on the rhythm, which was officially launched on May 10.
They include Grateful (Etana), Coming Around (Ginjah), Violence (I-Octane), Ragga Ragga (Warrior King) and Life Goes On (Richie Spice). As someone who got her break recording on popular beats, Etana believes it is critical to also select emerging acts on rhythm compilations. Gary Gutty, Samini and Jah Sun, who are on the Freemind rhythm, fall in that category.
"Riddim albums are played in a certain way by radio DJs that give the listening audience the opportunity to hear their favourite artiste in the mix of other artistes. The listener listens for the obvious reasons, and sometimes to see who has the baddest song on the riddim. It usually sparks conversation and whether good or bad, it's always good to be mentioned in the mix," she said.
The musicians in Etana's band played on the project. While the artistes selected share her fondness for dancehall/reggae from the 1990s/early 2000s, she stated that there was no particular concept for the project. "But the message in the music is always important to me," said Etana.
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