I Wayne, born Cliffroy
Taylor in Portmore, Jamaica, has officially
hit the international scene with his
..1 hit Cant Satisfy Her. This humble,
24 year old, singer has been the first
cultural reggae artist to be added
to Hot 97 in New York, a station notorious
for its hip hop influence. Since then
the track has caught on in several
markets and has entered the Billboard
Hip Hop/R&B Singles charts. The
firey tone of the track describes
the desperate reality of prostitution,
poverty, and sexually transmitted
diseases in Jamaica. His follow-up
single has once again taken the reggae
world by storm. Riding on the top
of the New York and Florida reggae
charts for more than 7 weeks and counting,
with Living in Love on the Hard Times
Riddim (VP2272) produced by Stephen
Gibbs and Errol Thompson, I Wayne
has already proved himself to be a
consistent hitmaker.
Although he has seemingly
burst onto the scene, this young artist
has been refining his craft since
age 7. Coming from a musical family,
I Wayne had first made his venture
into performance as a student at Greater
Portmore High School, joining a local
group Vibes Machine. The group, consisting
of singers and DJs, used to perform
afterwork parties at popular clubs
like Cactus and Asylum. One night,
the artist was forced to perform alone
due to the fact that the rest of his
bandmates were running extremely late.
The response was tremendous, and I
Wayne was motivated to perfect his
solo act. He later moved on to chant
with local sound systems like Diamond
Cruise and The Legend, and has contributed
significantly to the annual event
in his hometown, Garveymeade, held
on December 24th for the past 10 years.
With an admitted affinity for love
songs that highlight his ethnicity,
I Wayne has a unique ability to compose
and commit to memory all material
without ever writing down a word for
the recording session.
In November of 2004,
I Wayne signed a record deal with
VP Records to release his debut album
Lava Ground, which will be in stores
summer of 2005. The album will include
the two hit singles Cant Satisfy Her
and Living in Love and the title track
Lava Ground (which has already started
to show up on some charts). His rise
to the top of the reggae world is
unprecedented, and has sparked a wave
of enthusiasm among the industry for
the next generation of roots and culture
singers and songwriters
