By Curtis Campbell—
Dancehall artist Demarco has collaborated with pop star Akon for a single titled ‘No Wahala’.
The song also features African artist Run Town, and is already doing rounds on social media.
According to Demarco’s manager, Karl Palmer, the artist played the song for Akon’s wife and Akon later heard the song and fell in love with it.
“The fact that we used an afrobeat was also a factor. So he wrote his verse and sang the hook, then Demarco called it Run Town and the rest is history,” he said.
The manager also said that the song is already performing above expectations with little promotion.
“We have not started promotions and the song is close to half a million views on YouTube.com in just a week. We are trying to work the record organically because we don’t want to force it on the people. We want them to feel the song naturally and objectively,” he said.
Strong support
The record dabbles with African music and dancehall. The manager revealed that Demarco has always had strong support in the Motherland.
“Demarco alone pulls 15,000 to 30,000 people in Africa, and he has performed at several countries there. When we got over 30 million views for Love My Life, we did some research and what we found out was that the majority of the views we received came from Africa. Somehow, the Africans thought Demarco was an African artist initially and so they gave him their support,” he said.
The manager also made it clear that despite Demarco’s exploits on the international scene, he has not abandoned Jamaica.
“We are trying to stay current both overseas and locally. We have songs that are being released in Jamaica and we are on the jugglings. It’s just that if you have some real ground-breaking interviews overseas, you have to be there as well as for the shows. So you have to make yourself available … what we are seeking to strike is a balance between yard and abroad,” he said.
Palmer also disclosed that Akon has been very hands-on with Demarco’s music, since he signed to his label, Konvict Kulture, recently.
“He calls and he gives us his ideas as well and we welcome that because he has been doing this for a long time,” he said.
Demarco was also behind the production of Charly Black’s Billboard-charting Gyal You A Party Animal record.
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