Darkness.
The Jamaica Public Service Company is at it again-and what perfect timing. Wayne Marshall is on his way to do an interview and there's no electricity. Pretty impressive! It's 8pm at the Whaddat Head Quarters in Uptown Hell and a smiling Marshall enters the camp. He is in a great mood, as always. His opinion of our misfortune (the horrible power cut) is the complete opposite of what is going through our minds…
"Yeah fi real", he says "I get to chill in the candle light with three beautiful ladies".
Oh Wayne, flattery will get you everywhere.

HEAVY

This 21 year old 'sing-jay' and King Jammy's recording artist, is about to take over. His current alliance with Bounty Killer has made him one to watch in 2001. "Smoke Clears", written by Marshall is a collaboration between the singer and Bounty Killer and has been getting tremendous response on the dancehall scene both locally and internationally, even as far as France where the tune is doing exceptionally well on the charts. "I'm living my dream", he admits.

He is also surprised by his own popularity in Jamaica and overseas. Wayne relays an incident in which he was on his way to the country with a friend. He was riding shotgun when they stopped to ask a random "bicycle man" for directions. After telling them the way he says the man asked his bredren "Yow, a Wayne Marshall dat?" then praised the young singer's talents. He was astonished by the recognition and the compliments, "Is one ting when uptown people tell yuh your shit wicked but when a country man tell me… is a wicked feeling!"

SKILLS

His melodious voice is one that hits you- hard. If you haven't already witnessed one of Wayne's performances (while ducking from the from the numerous gunshots fired in appreciation of his skills) you'll see that this singer is destined for stardom. With the mic in hand, Wayne only has to sing the first line (only) of one of his current hits "Bling Bling" and the crowd's reaction is mind blowing. However, Marshall doesn't take all the credit. He attributes some of his talent to his voice trainer, Georgia Schlifer, who helps him to perfect his craft. He is also adamant about producing songs that are rich in authenticity and originality, " I prefer to write for myself. It's not that I don't like others writing for me but I think that by myself I know where I am trying to go with the song…where I am trying to take the listener." He stresses that local artists need to be more innovative in their approach to song writing in order to create music that is timeless, "…especially on the international scene, they live with the same songs for months and then afterwards a Jamaican singer comes and does over the same tune-people are tired of that."