I-OCTANE, RISING DANCEHALL STAR, POISED TO BREAK THROUGH

Dancehall artist I-Octane’s sensitively fashioned love songs have made him a ladies’ favorite while his outgoing personality is ideally suited to his role as Brand Ambassador for such products as Jamaican telecommunications company Digicel. But the sing-jay’s chief contribution to dancehall reggae is his persuasive socially conscious voice denouncing violence and the lack of opportunities facing the island’s poor.
Now, with a just-released EP, a full-length album due in February, and an experienced music industry team that includes Destine Media and VP Records, can the 27-year old sing-jay’s distinctive dancehall brand break though to the mainstream market?
“Bob Marley and others already did social commentary about political fights, people getting shot, starting wars for their own benefit, so I have to make sure I do mine in the I-Octane way,” reasoned the artist, born Byoime Muir in Clarendon, Jamaica.
Rather than glorifying the harshness of ghetto realities, I-Octane’s grittily detailed expressions of rude boy runnings, delivered with a distinguishing, haunting guttural cry, offer cautionary messages regarding wanton gun use and redemptive sentiments rooted in Rastafarian teachings, an amalgamation that has made him one of Jamaican music’s hottest commodities.
The artist’s complex musical identity comes into sharper focus, especially for the international market, with two separate releases. The six-song EP “Straight From The Heart”, the introductory project from his Conquer The Globe label, was released on Dec. 6 in association with New York City based Destine Media. His debut album “Crying To The Nation,” due on Feb. 14, is a joint venture between Queens, New York-based independent reggae VP Records and Scikron Entertainment (based in Miami and Kingston); I-Octane isn’t signed to either company.

Tags: caribbean, I-Octane, jamaica, POISED TO BREAK THROUGH, RISING DANCEHALL STAR