Longing for a return to positive content in Jamaican music, singjay Lady Donna is preparing to release an album this year, hopefully by April. The yet-titled set is being produced by Jermaine Forde, son of Aswad founder Brinsley Forde. Jamaica’s National Anthem, her rendition of Jamaica Land We Love, is the first release from the pending project. According to Lady Donna, she covered Jamaica’s ‘first song’ to help restore a sense of national pride in her homeland, especially among the youth.
“I think Jamaican youth have lost out a great deal on their sense of patriotism, and have really been done an injustice. This matter of patriotism is two-fold in that the society shares an equal responsibility with the child and family to foster that sense of pride in him or herself as well as the country in which they live, so there is room for improvement there,” she said. “In the meantime, we see what we are seeing now, that many youths don’t know the National Anthem, and even those born abroad to Jamaican nationals, sadly, have never heard the Jamaican anthem.”
Lady Donna’s previous song, Concerned Citizen, bemoaned a lack of vision by civic and political leaders in Jamaica. It was produced by Osujah Records, a company she started in 2015.
Originally from Jones Town in Kingston, Lady Donna was born Donna Burnett. Her introduction to the music business came through sound systems in her hometown.
Though she has lived in the United States for nearly 35 years, she maintains ties with Jamaica and its music scene. Through Osujah, she has helped expose the music of artists like Anaicon and INanny from St. Ann parish, birthplace of Bob Marley and Burning Spear.
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