Teejay is one of the biggest dancehall artists to emerge in the past few years, but the Mobay deejay says he feels he doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for his contribution to Jamaica’s popular music.
Teejay burst onto the scene in 2018 with his breakout hit “Up Top,” which ultimately catapulted him to dancehall stardom and gave him the moniker “Uptop Boss.” The following year he released a single of the same name, “Uptop Boss,” which helped put his name on the map and saw him joining Romeich Entertainment in a management deal.
In the years leading up to now, the singjay scored some big hits like “Braff” with Ding Dong, “Grimy,” “Owna Lane,” “Unfaithful Games,” “Gangster Prayer,” and “From Rags To Riches” which is perhaps his biggest song in terms of streams.
The artist is now being managed by Sharon Burke’s Solid Agency after parting ways with Romeich, and Shaggy, who is closely aligned with Burke, took the artist under his wings. Despite his monumental success in dancehall over the last few years, Teejay feels he still hasn’t received the proper respect he deserves.
In his recent interview with DJ Norie of the International Talk Podcast, Teejay opened up about some of his experiences in the game, some of which surprised even Shaggy, who was also in the interview.
“Nuff time mi feel like people nuh really give mi the credit like you know, underrated vibe,” the singjay said. “But, wi still keep on work same way.”
While Teejay didn’t namedrop any artist, he recently issued a scathing rebuke of Popcaan in an Instagram Live after the Unruly Boss hurled some disrespect towards Shaggy.
Shaggy says insecure artists don’t give due credit
Shaggy offered some assurance to Teejay that it’s not him who is the problem, but some artists may feel insecure and reflect that in their interaction with him.
“The people that they don’t give credit are the people that to me they fear the most,” the dancehall legend says. “A man might not wanna give you that because he knows that that’s that dude. That’s the problem right there. The guy that is not a problem that they don’t fear they’re gonna be like you know what, complementaries to that guy. It’s not a fear.”
Shaggy and Teejay recently collaborated on the single “Gyal Dem Time,” which has been doing well. The Uptop Boss also got a new single bubbling on local charts called “Drift.” That track took on a life of its own on social media, with fans and celebrities doing the dance, including Usain Bolt and Leon Bailey.
In the meantime, Shaggy has a new EP out called In The Mood, which is a primarily soca project and the first-ever extended play released by the Jamaican icon. The project features guest appearances from Kes, Future Fambo, Konshens, Noah Powa, Bunji Garlin, and Patrice Roberts. In The Mood is now available on all DSPs.
