Patiently Waiting
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like, ‘Whatever, this isn’t Sean Kingston,’ and I just kept deleting the messages. I did this for like a week. I finally got sick and tired of him sending me messages, so I gave him my number.”
In 2005, when his song “Island Girl,” (a song Iyaz recorded with fellow artists Shotta and Young Diction), started buzzing in the Caribbean, his path into music became somewhat clearer. Still, when opportunity knocked in the form of Epic recording artist Sean Kingston, Iyaz was skeptical about answering. “Sean Kingston started sending me messages on Myspace, like, ‘I love your music,’” the 23-year-old singer/rapper recalls. “I’m
To his surprise, Sean Kingston contacted him, and flew the aspiring artist to Miami the next day. Subsequently, Iyaz signed a deal with Kingston’s upstart imprint Time Is Money and J.R. Rotem’s Beluga Heights. Fast-forwarding to this moment, his Rotem-produced debut single “Replay” has topped U.S. and international charts, and he insists his debut album Replay will carry move of the same “Island Pop” sound as his breakthrough single. “When you think of ‘Island Pop,’ I want you to think of the Islands; fun, happy times, vacation, cruises, stuff that make you feel good,” he says of his upbeat Caribbean fused
edrian “Iyaz” Jones always knew he wanted to be involved in music. Born in the British Virgin Islands, Iyaz grew up singing in the choir, and years later, studied recording and engineering in college. “I always [wanted to work in music], I didn’t care what it was,” he says. “I was just getting prepared for any field they would put me in.”
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sound. “And when I think Pop, I just think mainstream music. Island Pop is a mixture of Reggae, Calypso, R&B, Rap, Rock, everything in one.” Still a novice, Iyaz’s international star status seems bright. He began pursuing music, not knowing where he’d fit in. Today, with a number one record sitting atop the United Kingdom Singles Chart, he’s already accomplished a lifelong dream. “I always just wanted to have my music heard worldwide, everywhere,” he says cheerfully. “That was my major goal. A number one [single], that’s perfect.” Words by Randy Roper Photo by Nabil