Shane O “Lightning Flash” (2004) His first music video.
2021
@LeoOReggio
When Roshain McDonald ventured into a recording studio for the first time at 11 years old, he perhaps had no idea that he would build a career so impactful that he has not only become a respected dancehall artiste but one of the genre’s most prolific writers. Known more popularly as Shane O, the entertainer has seen much success since his big break back in 2004.
Intermittently resurfacing on the music scene to give his fan base hit singles such as Last Days, A Million, Partner Draw, and Psalms 23, Shane O said over the years, he has mastered the art of being elusive. He shared that operating “incognito” from time to time has been one key ingredient to his success.
“More while when people nuh see or hear from me, a me a do things like that. It takes a lot to make the hits that I always come back with, and so I have to put in the work. I am a different kinda yute weh sit back, observe and make my moves accordingly. I also pray and meditate music on a different level. I don’t want to keep putting out the same songs over and over because I believe my abilities are far more advanced than that,” he said.
Shane O said he is “in the top five lyricists in Jamaica”. “Mi nuh watch the hype and the two weeks song dem and who a trend because at the end of the day, I know what I am capable of. I am in the top five lyricists in Jamaica, and nobody nuh affi tell me dat. When I come out with my songs, dem always connect, and me never get bad reviews yet. And there are songs out there that other people have recorded that were written by me. I know my abilities, so I just work because at the end of the day, what due to Caesar dem affi just give it to him,” he said.
The entertainer encouraged his colleagues to take particular pride in how they craft their songs. He cautioned them against getting too caught up in the competitiveness of the business and urged them to produce quality, well-written masterpieces. “When mi a likkle yute a do music, mi did think a rhyming a di way yuh write music until me discover say there’s more to it. Yuh affi actually consider wordplay, find a topic and explore it in a way that has never been done before. Some people, when dem a write dem just talk ‘bout the car and the house and a nuh so yuh do music,” he said.
He said he looks to other celebrated artistes such as Sizzla, and the work he has put out during his sterling career. “I look at the careers of man like Sizzla. Dem man deh put out solid, well put together work. Timeless classics. When you look pan songs like Dry Cry or even the album that song was on, every track was a hit record,” he said while sharing what makes him different from other writers in the industry. “I am a man weh write different from nuff a dem artiste yah out today. I work off energy, and I can’t even pinpoint when the break a come again. When I came back on the scene three years or so ago with Last Days, that song came from a place of deep meditation,” he said.
He is encouraging entertainers to study the greats, noting that there is much to learn from how they crafted their music.”Mi just wah di man dem look into things with a keen eye. Look at the people whose songs really made an impact in music, see how they put their songs together and why no matter how much time passes, it still fresh. Look pan man like Bob Marley. A decades ago dem man deh music hit, and dem still a hit today. Something about how he wrote and the way he got his message across. It still connects with people nuh matter how much years pass,” he said.
