With a bag of tricks up his sleeve, it’s not hard to
see why one upcoming artiste seeks to prove that he’s full of 'Stylez'
with substance in his content.
Growing up in Portmore, St. Catherine,
emerging deejay, Stylez has music running through his veins since birth.
No one recognized Stylez's abilities more than the one who gave birth to him as
his mother encouraged him and his two younger brothers to test their musical
skills; later forming a group called the Star Brothers, who soon made
their name within their community by singing at church.
For Stylez, his mother's belief in him was
the driving force towards wanting to own the stage.
"It's safe to say my mother was the ultimate
influence on me being introduced to music at a tender age!"
he said.
From there, Stylez perfected his craft while
attending Dunoon Technical High School, teaming up with his friend, Kardo
to form the duo, Stylez and Kardo (SK) in 2006 before migrating to the United
States. Being in a new country forced Stylez to make some adaptations on
and off-stage, but soon opened doors towards a brighter future in music.
"Being in a new country and reunited with my
mother and stepfather, I pretty much had to start over. My mother asked me,
'What do I want to do now?' I told her I wanted to pursue my music full time
for a year with their support," he said. "They agreed
and asked me if I was gonna go solo and I told them it's me and my friend so I
can't leave home. The following month he was here and out journey began!"
While with the group, he co-founded a new genre
dubbed 'Pop-Tois' combining elements of Dancehall with American pop music. But
being in SK opened the door towards Stylez performing for some of Dancehall's
elite, boosting his profile beyond belief.
“We opened for all major acts youu can think of in
dancehall; from Sean Paul to (Bounty) Killa to Cham, just to name a few and
that was all because of the respect and belief the promoters and Djs had on
SK!” Stylez said.
SK dropped notable tracks such as Google Girl,
Party Cup and Go Hard to some acclaim, but endured their share of struggles as
a debut mixtape, SK – Street Knowledge was not released in Jamaica due to Stylez’s
migration while the group’s first album, due for release this past summer, also
failed to come to fruition.
After years of success and struggle with SK, the
group broke up earlier this year, prompting Stylez to go solo and develop his
own persona that would make him a legitimate threat in Dancehall.
Fast forward to September and Stylez has made good
on his promise to attract the eyes and ears of music lovers as he unveiled his
thought-provoking debut single, Good Ole a Dweet, which immediately garnered
him attention from all corners of the industry.
“Even though me and my team knew it would raise
some eyebrows in the industry, and also with fans we didn't anticipate this
much hype over it. But we loving it man!!” he said. With his hybrid sound and edgy lyrics, Stylez
quickly left his mark on the scene as Good Ole a Dweet and its accompanying
gave him instant street credibility and buzz.
Seeking to capitalize on his new-found fame, Stylez
has tested new boundaries with his follow-up effort, She Katch It, which was
released last month.
To ensure music lovers would have their eyes fixed
on him, Stylez, at the advice of his PR team, decided to create hardcore
visuals for the song that would spark controversy but present art at the same
time.
“We went to the drawing board and decided to do
something classy, but at the same time rated R and not degrading,” he said.
