Devon ‘Troublesum’ Smith - a new face to reggae music

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WOULD you give up everything to follow your dream even if you did not have a concrete plan but was driven only by what you believe is your destiny?
Well, one individual from neighbouring Jamaica has done that. He is the island’s new reggae artiste, Devon Smith, who woke up one day and decided that working a nine to five job no longer interested him.

One of his singles, ‘Through the Storm’, chronicles that decision where he decided to leave it all behind to follow his dream, which is probably taboo to many.

The music video and single with their clever composition and thought-provoking lyrics successfully depict what some persons may have to deal with when pursuing their dreams.

“I always felt like music would only reward those that believe in it fully and would be willing to take the risk and put it all on the line,” he told SKNVibes in an exclusively interview. “With that understanding, I made a decision and handed in my resignation.”

With nothing but a desire and belief that he could be successful, Smith knew that he would face many challenges on his journey to true happiness and success.

He hopes that the song would serve as motivation for others who want to pursue their dream.
“I hope it inspires them to continue the journey and never give up, because you can never fail forever,” he said.

Smith, who was born in Jamaica but currently resides in New York City, graduated from the Stony Brook College with a Bachelors of Science in Business.

“In the next two to five years I hope to be at the top of the billboards and have diamond sales,” said the artiste who uses the stage name ‘Troublesum’.

His first positive feedback came when he performed in 1999 at a school event where he received an overwhelming response from the audience.

He is currently being managed by New York-based ‘VIP Connected’, a promotions company that is headed by Julie ‘Lexy’ Brooks to whom he was introduced by his mentor Neville Oliver.
VIP Connected is one of the top entertainment agencies in the Caribbean that does booking for various shows and festivals internationally and throughout the Caribbean. They boast a number of artistes under their belt which they manage including ‘Ding Dong’, ‘Voice Mail’ ‘Tony Matterhorn’ and their new prodigy ‘Troublesum’.

The company also does bookings for a number of big name artistes including Akon, Etana, Beenie Man and The Game and has done most of the bookings for the artistes featured in St. Kitts since 2003.

According to Brooks, Smith is no doubt the new face of reggae music who not only can sing and is versatile but produces music videos.

Brooks said since signing Troublesum he has done a number of shows and has a number of great songs but are really promoting ‘Replacement’, ‘Seduction Wine’ and ‘Eye Candy’.
She added that she is also looking forward to bringing Smith to the federation and even getting him on the annual music festival.

His style of music is a fusion between Jamaican and American culture and he has released a number of singles including ‘Without you girl’, ‘Am a problem’, ‘No Comprendo’ and ‘Touch’.

“It is real, it is entertaining and a lot of the songs have to do with real events and real emotions that everyone can relate to,” he said of his style of music.

Smith said that given the opportunity, he would love to collaborate with persons like Damian Marley, Busy Signal and Sizzla.

Recently, he performed in Guyana and Atlanta and will be one of the artistes on one of Miami’s biggest concerts - ‘Best of the Best’.

When asked how he came by the name ‘Troublesum’, Smith laughed and said one of his cousins had often called him ‘Trouble’ because of his mischievous ways; so he decided to add ‘sum’ as there is now more to him.

Along with his pursuance in the music industry, he also manages his own clothing line called ‘Deus Beni’ which means ‘God Bless’ in Portuguese. Smith explained that it is an urban clothing line for males and females and he is going to expand the line to feature jeans, jackets swimsuits, dresses and more.

Determined to succeed, Smith has not stopped there. The all-rounder also has a production company called ‘Deus Beni Productions’ at which he produces music videos for other artistes.

The company also produced Smith’s first video ‘Through the Storm’ which premiered in March and was shot in Brooklyn.

He said the company has also done a video for a singer by the name of ‘Gummy Mention’ and is presently working on one for Tony Matterhorn.

Smith said that he would like to thank Matterhorn for the overwhelming support, as he has been trying to get him known on the international scene.

By Cherisse M. Sutton-Jeffers

Reporter SKNVibes.com