Producer Stephen McGregor (left) and Laden. - colin hamilton

Since linking with the Big Ship in 2007, life has been smooth sailing for STAR of the month Laden. Coming to fame through the Digicel Rising Stars competition, where he made it into the top ten, Laden has continued to grow, develop and shine since being under the guidance of Big Ship Productions.

Living, travelling, performing, partying and making music, Laden is all about his Big Ship family. He told THE STAR, "Big Ship is the hot spot, Stephen McGregor is the genius, I have always wanted to work with him even before Rising Stars, from St Elizabeth." Before working with the 'genius', Laden recorded demos on his rhythms and met up with Stephen through a mutual friend.

First song

He recorded his first song for Stephen called Don't You Like It on the 'Chiney K' rhythm and continued to produce hits such as I'm Sorry, Really Like You and others. Laden said, "working with Stephen is cool, he's the best, he taught me how to record properly, about notes, how to deliver properly on the rhythm and with energy as well. Now it's like I'm part of the family."

According to producer Stephen McGregor, it was Laden's lyrical content that originally drew his attention saying, "he was always rhyming and always with a humour about it, then I started hearing his melodies.

Very versatile

He definitely has potential and more. He is also very versatile, he can go on different types of dancehall vibes, hard-core, girls tunes anything."

Laden's debut album Time to Shine, will hopefully be released by the beginning of summer. However, in the meantime, he has a number of singles in the pipeline, including one on McGregor's latest rhythm called 'Boasy.'