Guyanese Timeka Marshall and Adrian Dutchin are among 25 artistes from 14 Caribbean countries who have joined their voices for a song to give hope during the current pandemic.
The song, titled ‘We Got This,’ was written by a Barbadian duo, Ian Webster and Cheyne Jones, who won the ‘Songwriters of the Year Award at last year’s Crop Over Festival. “At the time when we wrote it we were obviously concerned about all that was happening around us and felt that we needed to give people a sense of hope through our music,” Webster told The Scene.
Marshall recalled randomly receiving a message to be a part of the project and said she was elated to be included in such a venture. For her the opportunity was three-fold as she was able to share an important message of hope, represent Guyana and join with other amazing singers to make it possible.
In the video for the song, Marshall can be seen singing in front of the ‘I LOVE GUYANA’ monument. The singer also recently did a COVID-19 jingle for the Civil Defence Commission (CDC). Her work on the jingle came after the CDC realised that persons were not wearing their masks and/or not wearing them properly, which saw the agency subsequently coming forward with a proposition for the singer.
“I just felt so proud as a West Indian to be a part of a project like this, knowing that my voice was going to be heard by someone who may need their spirits lifted at that point in time. In this pandemic, there’s a lot of loneliness, a lot of sadness, a lot of pain and to be one hundred percent honest, I feel that music, outside of love itself, is one of the most beautiful things this world has to offer and through music hearts can be soothed, minds can be put at ease, healing can actually happen though music…. We just don’t know what is happening. It seems like there is no end to this but if my voice could help in any way, if encouraging people to know that they are not by themselves… I feel that I have done something great, I feel that I’ve empowered someone and touch someone’s heart and hopefully it helps them sneak out of that dark place they may be in and just find that hope they need….”, Jadine Greenaway, who goes by stage name Jadine Soca Deva, said.
Greenaway, who hails from Montserrat, added that despite the current circumstances, it was quite amazing to know that each artiste were in their own countries in different places and successfully complete this project in a time frame of just over two weeks. The singer said that this was only possible because of the dedication of persons who came together to make it happen. In addition to the twenty five artistes, approximately 20 other persons came on board, whether they were the musicians, the producer, the writers, or the person taking care of communication.
Meanwhile, Bajan Soca artiste, Omar ‘MarzVille’ Mcquilkin popular for his songs, ‘Bang Bim’, ‘Give It To Ya’ and ‘Toc Tic,’ said he felt good knowing that have been given such an opportunity, especially at such a time.
Bahamian Soca singer Tara Lynne was also honoured to have been a part of the project. “This was so prideful to be able to do that and represent my country in this song. It feels absolutely amazing. I’m just loving all of the feedback we’re getting throughout the Caribbean and in our community by putting positive vibes out there…,” she said, when contacted.
Ruel (only name given), of Barbados, was the person responsible for getting the artistes together. “I was very pleased with the production. Always happy to be a part of any humanitarian effort. It also serves as a reminder that although we have been all immensely affected by COVID in our separate countries, that we all are still connected,” he said.
Among the other artistes who took on the ‘We Got This’ project are College Boy Jesse (Trinidad), Claudette Peters (Antigua), Tasha Peltier (Dominica), Motto (St. Lucia), Karisia Willett (St. Kitts), Shaunelle McKenzie (St. Vincent), Queen B (Anguilla), Josh Berkeley (Grenada), Adana (Tobago), Devine Songz (Dominica), Victor O (Martinique), Arthur (St. Lucia), Rochelle (Barbados), Khional (Barbados), Drew Dean (Nevis), Genisa St.Hillaire (Trinidad), Shauntel Layne (Barbados), Kaay Jones (Jamaica) and Mahalia (Barbados).
