“Fire In My Bones”, a recently released song, has been creating waves with its remarkable arrangement and lyrics, more so because it is the debut for singer, Jamal La Rose.
“The song is primarily me trying to internalize. I was hurt but not sure I was hurt enough to write a song like that, maybe not. It’s basically me internalizing someone else’s pain,” was how Jamal described it. The song proved a big hit when it was performed last Saturday night at the Miss Guyana Teen Scholarship Awards Event. Many persons lauded the singer for his remarkable talent and encouraged him to continue.
“Fire In My Bones” was written in July. The singer explained that he was hoping it would be out in time for his birthday on August 2, but the music producer he was working with mistakenly deleted all the files and the song almost did not make its release ever. However, the producer somehow managed to recover the song along with other projects he had lost. This led to the song being released on August 20.
Jamal said he had reached out to American-Canadian rapper, Connor Price. The singer shared that he had been following the rapper for quite some time. He noticed his down-to-earth nature and how he was constantly making suggestions about being willing to collaborate with fans and other artistes. The rapper responded to him and suggested that he try using his own mixing and mastering engineer. He was already seeking out another mixing and mastering engineer, but Price meant business and soon enough, Christian Sagum, Price’s engineer contacted him with an offer he could not refuse.
While Sagum was the engineer of his music, Kelvin Daly, of C Fanatic Rekords produced it. Daly, Jamal said, is Guyanese and while he may not be established to produce the best of music, he did an exceptional job on his. He added also that Daly works from out of his home.
“I’m overwhelmed with the feedback so far. Generally, it’s hard to please Guyanese. So when you get feedback from persons saying that they love your song, it almost leaves you speechless. I’m very grateful for the feedback received,” Jamal said.
Determined to know that he was reaching a local audience, Jamal said that after he did a draft of the song he decided to do a survey among 15 of his friends to see what they thought of it. All of them had good things to say, he said.
Although, the song is his debut, he is passionate about music and no stranger to the industry. Jamal had entered the GT&T Jingle and Song Competition on several occasions. The first time was in 2006. He went on to participate three other times and made it to the duet round in 2013 when Ryan Hoppie and Bibi Halima Khan won.
Currently, he is working on a new song, which will be totally different from “Fire In My Bones”. He said he has reached out to Sagum telling him to expect a variety of songs from him as he is looking to find his “own sound”. Not wanting to be predictable, is another reason for him making the switch.
‘It hasn’t been an easy journey for me in music. I was looking for a way where persons in the [industry] can see I have the drive and give me a push. I’ve been looking for that opportunity for 14 years now but after the pandemic, I decided to do it for myself,” said the determined artiste.
However, the more than a decade of wait has not been all failure as Jamal also took up dancing, acting, writing and filmmaking. He was part of the no longer existing Classique Dance School.
As an actor, he had a role in the Legend of the Silk Cotton Tree for Carifesta X. “They had a series of workshops for actors, directors, and makeup artists. At the completion of the classes, persons had to produce these plays. I played the lead role of the character called ‘Olum’,” he said.
Jamal also had a part in a Trinidadian play called the Cuckadoo and has performed in a number of other plays since then. When asked which of the art forms he enjoys the most, his reply was that he prefers to treat his talents equally. “I’m equally passionate about all of them and hope to someday infuse all of them. This is where filmmaking comes in.”
A former St Joseph High student, the singer noted that he was not as active in the arts while at the school, because secondary school can be brutal; he did not go into any details. His participation was limited to the choir and playing tenor in the steel pan.
It was while a sixth former at Queen’s College that he found his identity. Jamal took part in the spoken word competition there which he won. He also volunteered to act for the CAPE Literature students and thoroughly enjoyed playing Willie Lowman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. He was also part of the very first cast of “Nothing To laugh About”, and though he was interested in Merundoi, he never got that opportunity.
Speaking of the music industry, Jamal said he was proud of the quality of music coming out of Guyana, specifically Dancehall, which he noted has had the most song releases over recent years. Though Samuel Medas is no Dancehall artiste, Jamal shared that the singer has gained his admiration for the amazing songs he has produced to date.
However, he believes that Guyana has not done enough when it comes to the creative arts industry. In 2009, he entered an essay competition which asked participants to write about their recommendation for promoting multiculturalism. In his essay, he outlined ways of developing our arts. “In Guyana, many of the older folks are built a certain way and they expect you to take up one of the traditional jobs… We need to create options for our youths. Not everybody wants to do this traditionally. Persons shouldn’t have to do the arts as a hobby, but they can be paid for it also,” he wrote. Besides Medas, Jamal likes to listen to the music of Adel, Sam Smith, Beyonce and Rihanna. He shared that from the inception of Rihanna’s music career, he felt a connection particularly because she was from the Caribbean but also because she was not fearful to venture into the other genres of music.
Jamal also loves the songs of Sam Cooke, Patti La Belle and Billy Holiday, which he dubbed, “great music”. In fact, it was such songs that he sang for countless hours at karaoke, his form of practice.
Jamal’s inspirations in acting include Denzel Washington, Forest Whittaker, Bryan Cranston, and Will Smith. Smith, he said, though not the greatest actor, has welcomed different genres of music.
Jamal is looking to produce his first album and complete his LLM (Master of Law) having already read for a bachelor’s at the University of Guyana. He plans on becoming a law professor while he holds down singing, writing, acting and filmmaking. “As difficult as it is, it isn’t impossible,” Jamal enthusiastically said.
Currently, the singer has a full-time job. Outside of work and music, he spends some of his time watching movies and various series. Among his top-rated ones are: “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad,” “Peaky Blinders”, and “The Terrell Show”.
“Fire In My Bones” is currently available online, including through iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Shazam.
Jamal can be followed on Facebook and Instagram @Jamal La Rose Music and on Twitter @Jamal La Rose. Persons can also subscribe to his YouTube channel at Jamal La Rose.
