He brought you hits like Bird Boss and Miss Grippy, his name is Shemmy J.
Shemmy Johannes was born on 17 September 1997 in a small community in Castries called Paveé but grew up in another community, La Toc, which is also part of Castries Saint Lucia; he is the last born to his parents.
Shemmy attended the Roman Catholic Boys Primary School and later went to Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School, where his love for music blossomed. In his early years, he remembered and recalls that his dad had a musical band, so he felt that music was always a part of him.
It wasn’t until the second form at secondary school that Shemmy started showcasing his musical genius. He co-wrote and performed his first song, a reggae tune, along with two of his classmates; this is when people started to take note of his talent.
He graduated from secondary school in 2014 and created the brand OSide Entertainment. In the early stages of his career, and even now, Shemmy has written extensively for other artists, such as Sedale, Edwin (Call My Mother For Me, which won him a Road March title in 2019), and Teddyson John.
In 2015 he teamed up with Vibex Productionz and released Like A Star. Shemmy’s music gained further notoriety when he collaborated with Imran Nerdy, another prominent Saint Lucian artist, on the afro-inspired hit Bouncing.
His music career was propelled, and from then on, Shemmy captured the hearts of Saint Lucians and the wider Region. His chart-topping hit Pretty On Purpose debuted in 2020 and still makes waves today. His other hits include Start a Fyah, Cherry Cassava, Ou Dou and Spoil You.
Soca News had a brief interview with Shemmy J, and here’s how it went.
You have many hits; what is your creative process when writing or creating new music?
First, I normally find a beat and then draw inspiration; usually, I start with a melody, the hook, and then build the song from there. Other times I like to talk about what’s trending or certain past experiences. I also like for my music to become a statement piece, for example, something that can be printed on a shirt. A lot of the time my music is also inspired by whatever artist I listen to on rotation at the time, right now my favourite artist is Burner Boy.
What would you say is the biggest highlight of your career so far?
One of my biggest highlights would be being accepted by people as an artist. The feeling of seeing the fans loving my music and what I produce year after year is amazing. Another big highlight for me was being featured on Uber Soca Cruise like this, not just on the local stage anymore. These are international artists and people who know my music and love it. All in all, being able to travel to different places that I’ve never been to and being recognized is a blessing because, at one point, I couldn’t do these things.
The organisers of the Saint Lucia Carnival have taken a different approach this year, introducing a Dennery Segment Soca Monarch Competition and the Schools Panorama Competition. What are your views on these initiatives?
I think that this is a great step in the right direction. For years now I’ve been hearing these artist, some of who are my colleagues, complain about having their own avenue to showcase their talents. To have their own stage to share their music and not be overshadowed by other genres is a lot. Regarding the Schools Panorama Competition, I think it awesome that they are giving students a chance to explore and nurture their talents. Back then, the only competitions we had for schools were R.C Jam and Junior Calypso Monarch, and I took started in school but didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.
So far, you’ve debuted two singles with International Stephen for the carnival season, Flowers and Problems In D Bay. What else can we expect from Shemmy J?
Right now, my team and I are working on two tracks, Water Park and Carnival Gros Pwell. I am also working on writing collaborations with a few other artists, so look out for that.
Since this interview, Shemmy has made it through to the National Groovy Soca Monarch semi-finals and has been nominated for a Caribbean Music Award in the Best News Artist—Soca category.
You can keep up with Shemmy via his Instagram and YouTube pages.
