Warrior Chief Records artiste Maestro Don has inked a recording deal with champion jockey designate Dane Nelson which he hopes will propel him into the limelight of local dancehall.
The rhyme slinger first earned major props last year when he clashed with a deejay called Khyda at Sting 2011, and lyrically annihilated him, earning him a legion of fans.
“That’s where my legend began to grow, mi kill Khyda over Sting, it all de pon youtube right now and it give me a whole heap ah fans and mi career start look promising,” he said.
He then did a viral video for a single called ‘Polygamy’ featuring a talented artiste called Pencil and a buzz began to build around him in the community of Waterford, St. Catherine.
“The views tek off and mi get 42,000 views on youtube, it show on Swag TV and mi soon put it on HYPE TV,” the 20 year-old deejay said.
A chance meeting with Nelson, who also lives in Waterford, then changed the trajectory of Maestro’s career.
“I met Nelson when I heard that he had decided to do music production. I gave him CDs with a couple of my tracks and him believe inna the ting. Nelson loves music and he has great ideas and together, we ah go run the world together,” he said.
The Nelson-owned Warrior Chief Productions bankrolled the marketing and promotion of his latest video, ‘Ghetto Dreams’. Last week, Maestro won the weekly dancehall clash on CVM Hitlist, winning an interview on the TV station, and earning him major props as a clash artiste. And popular emcee Andrew ‘Nuffy’ Nelson, a cousin of Dane Nelson, has also been recruited to oversee street promotion and marketing.
“Right now, everything set to take off, the whole ah Waterford ah look to me. Mi respect Vybz Kartel because ah him name dancehall, and mi waan play my role fi push the music further out in the world,” Maestro said.
Born Jason “Maestro Don” Dunn, born on November 30,1993 to a loving couple, he attended the Jamaica House Basic School, then went on to Waterford Primary where he developed a passion for singing. However, it was not until he attended Kingston College that he adapted the style of composing his own songs
“When I left K.C, I decided to do music full time but my mother wanted me to return to school, even Edna Manley school, and she wanted me to have a plan B. But music is my plan A and plan B, my passion for music ah drive me, me ah follow my heart,” he said.
Dubbed the Young Veteran’ because of his witty metaphors, energetic onstage persona and his swashbuckling style of deejaying, this young blood is poised to push his career into the next stratosphere
“I believe that Maestro has the new sound and the new image and attitude that can represent fi dancehall music to the fullest, and mi ah go all out fi mek it happen,” he said.
If you’re a gambling man, you can bet your last dollar on it. Dane Nelson picks winners.
