SHUGA…we should just drop off the songs at the library and if the songs are good, they deserve to be played—
Singer Shuga has launched a campaign pushing for more play on local radio for female artists.
On her new song, Ride Pon The Riddim, she takes aim at disc jockeys, appealing for equal air-time with male acts.
“I think we should just drop off the songs at the library and if the songs are good, they deserve to be played,” Shuga told the Sunday Observer.
She claims she has heard disc jockeys ‘juggling a riddim’ on which female artists have recorded, yet their songs are not played.
“Being female in the industry is not an easy task unless you have an aggressive male around you,” she said.
“Ride Pon The Riddim” is currently #10 on The South Florida Reggae Chart, and #12 on The NY Foundation Radio Music Chart.
The 2009 Digicel Rising Stars winner believes there are several female artists who are being overlooked by Jamaican radio.
“Tessanne Chin is the perfect example. If she didn’t go to The Voice, she would not have been getting some of the breaks now,” Shuga stated. “Many people think Hideaway is the only song she recorded, but she has so many more, they are just not being played.”
Shuga’s campaign officially got underway at the Countryside Club in St Andrew on Thursday, with a show dubbed ‘Ebony Empowering Sisterhood’ which had an all-female cast.
She also used the forum to launch the video for Ride Pon The Riddim.
Even though female dancehall/reggae artists have recorded gold and platinum albums, Shuga believes more needs to be done for them to gain recognition.
“We need to start thinking outside the box if we are to win international awards like a Grammy,” she said.
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