Continuing to make an impact on the local entertainment scene Fojo received accolades from the special invitees present to witness the launch of his R&B production “Woman” last Friday.
Featuring a beautiful Guyanese woman, Alliyah Khan, and a number of the Platinum crew members including Young Fame, the video drew gasps as folks at the event found shots featuring the interior of Lennox John’s City Mall quite breathtaking. The song itself, dedicated to the love of a woman, definitely falls within the realm of topics covered by the R&B genre and is good as any featured on the major music channels.
Hosted at the Blue Iguana two Fridays ago the video launch was graced with the presence of sponsors, studio bosses, artistes, a number of talented youths as well as media representatives.
Amidst the fanfare Leslie Forrester, Platinum Studios Chief Executive Officer made the observation that there may be an opening for other personnel in the Guyanese music industry: lyricists to produce more pleasing lyrics and to be dedicated to writing song poems.
He made the suggestion even as he applauded the strides of Guyanese music and expressed the understanding the general Guyanese public were enjoying music produced here which indicated productions were of international standard.
Forrester mentioned the copyright issue, noting that musicians are workers who need pay for a job well done. But he could still feel something there bubbling to get the industry going that could be the number one in Guyana.
Chairperson of the event Shelliza Allie told the gathering that after hosting a sold-out show featuring Fojo and the Platinum Crew she was impressed with their performance and decided to work with them.
Noting the obstacles facing artistes she spoke of financial difficulties, a narrow perception of marketing, the fact Guyana music has not been getting anywhere, and copyright deficiencies. However she noted that in spite of all this within two months working together they have an album concept slated to be mastered in T&T, album covers and the featured video.
She spoke about selecting the right girl to play the role alongside Fojo in the video noting she did not come along until the day before the shoot. She said the result proves that Guyanese can do a lot if they put their minds to it.
Giving further encouragement to entertainers Donna Short-Gill representing the minister of Tourism said against all the obstacles facing artistes here, to see people like Fojo producing work on par with the imported material “you have got a good fight on your hands.”
Fojo in introducing the video recalled when his uncle Forrester first heard his sound and was blown away. This led Forrester to invest in the recording equipment under the direction of his nephew and build a studio on Sheriff Street.
He spoke of being impressed with other artistes like First Born, Big Red, Shelly G, Celeste David, and Timeka Marshall among others.
The versatile artiste spoke of touring with Guyanese hit maker Militant where the two of them would often be the only Guyanese at any one event amongst several other Caribbean artistes. He declared that if he was to do that again he would love to go with an entourage of Guyanese artistes. basstone@lycos.com
