Contributed

Jamaica’s prodigal daughter Sonya James has returned to her homeland to find her true musical voice and conquer the music world.

The London-based songstress recently recorded a few R & B -flavoured and reggae-influenced singles on Max Romeo’s Charmax label that are already causing a buzz in reggae-dancehall circles because of Sonya’s stunning good looks and crisp clear vocals.

“We’re working on an album, but we plan to release a few of the singles soon,” Tony Mack, her publicist, told a reporter this week.

Leaving Jamaica at age 8, the young Sonya James migrated to North West London and enrolled at the Alperton secondary school. It was while there she felt a overwhelming compulsion to be in show business.

She grew up listening to the music of Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, and Ginuwine whose music greatly inspired her. A return home to Jamaica to attend Reggae Sunsplash in 1988 further cemented in her mind that she had to be a performer.

Upon returning to London for school she auditioned for lead role in the school play “Guys and Dolls” and then landed a performance lead in the Bugsy Malone musical playing the character of Talulla where her awesome raw talent could be seen.

In 2001, she dropped out of regular school and enrolled at a music academy where she was taught all the aspects of the music business. She landed a job as a dental nurse and while at work, surreptitiously met London movie & music producer John Ericson who asked her if she was a singer or an actress as he thought she possessed the commercial flair and looks that you would normally see on T.V or in ads. in newspaper.

After finding out that she was in music he invited her to his studio where a number of demo recordings were made and sent to major record companies. With nothing fruitful coming out of these sessions and not being satisfied with the final product, she decided to move on and find a producer who was more into the R&B sound.

Her desire to find such a producer brought her to Derrick Soul at the Bridge Park Complex a producer and promoter who produced the track (Feeling Me) a song the young Sonya wrote at age 13. The session was financed by her mom and the song was entered into a talent contest where she performed and won the competition. The song was pressed on CDs by her friends and circulated to all clubs and sound systems without her knowledge and in 2002 became a club hit in that area of the London community. This led to her performing in all the clubs across England exposing her music to a larger enthusiastic audience who had become fans of her music.

She soon moved to New York, and met Lindley Lambert, the half brother of reggae icon Max Romeo, who invited her to his studio where a number of tracks where laid. Lambert arranged for Max Romeo who was in London for his European tour, to listen to her. Impressed, Romeo made arrangements for her trip to Jamaica where she is now working with Jallanzo and himself at the Charmax Recording studio and distribution company to complete her debut album.

Already a number of tracks have been laid with two completed. These include a reworking of her song (Feeling me) with the rhythm created by Jallanzo who recently had hits with Ruffi-ann. Jallanzo is the creative genius behind hits such as Ruffi-Ann’s “Save the juvenile”, and Sofia Squire “Rat A Tat a Tat” among others.

“Sonya brings freshness to the music with her melodious soothing yet commanding delivery, she has a bright future in music and will be a great music ambassador for our music and culture,” her publicist Tony Mack stated.

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