Rseenal shooting for the stars
Fabian O'Hara, Star Writer


Rseenal - Contributed

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

That's the philosophy of 29-year-old Rohan Whyte, the father of two and a rising dancehall artiste.

Whyte, whose stage name is Rseenal, hopes this is the year he will become a household name.

"I am feeling confident that this will be my breakthrough year, as I am coming with some strong material," he said.

Rseenal, who is from Allman Town in Kingston, said that his first love of poetry developed into a love for music.

Appetite for singing

"Well, I started out as a dub poet, and as my skills developed, so did my appetite for singing," Whyte told THE STAR.

Whyte, a graduate of the Ardenne High School, says he has been in the music business since 2005 and is happy with how things are going. He has been featured on stage shows such as Curry Fest, Teen Splash and Fully Loaded, among others.

Whyte has also travelled to Amsterdam and Canada to perform and said he has relished the experiences.

"Yeah man, mi love di feedback from the fans, and the experiences of getting familiarised with other cultures," he said.

The talented artiste also plays the guitar but doesn't plan to stop there.

New video

"I want to learn to play as many instruments as possible, but the time in which I have to do so is short, but I eventually will," he pointed out.

After shooting a video for Wine Up Pon It on the Gambling House Records label, Rseenal recorded a single with dancehall superstar Junior Reid titled Its Your Life (remix) on the Multicast Entertainment label which also features overseas-based Donahue and Jr-Sky.

"I'm really humbled to be on a track with the great Junior Reid. It's really a great accomplishment. This I think will boost my career forward a great deal," Whyte said. Internationally, he has also done collaborations with Queen Selena from Norway and top French rapper Kens. Tours of Grenada and Belize are next on the cards for Whyte.

"I want to create a louder buzz in Jamaica, but, yuh done know, food haffi eat, suh wi a do some tours. Mi have a few songs getting heavy rotations in Belize right now," Rseenal said.

In the future, Whyte wants to do collaborations with some of the top local entertainers.

"Mi waan collaborate with Busy Signal, Tessanne Chin and Queen Ifrica. Mi not even a go limit the thing. any artiste whey a duh good songs and willing to collaborate, I am willing and able," he said.

-- Edited by rrDesignZ at 15:30, 2009-03-10

keep working hard mi artitse from long time yuh ah work hard