THOUGH the name ‘Jackie Jaxx’ is no stranger to the ears of the Guyanese public, when you ask this 26-year-old about her career, without qualms, she’d humbly say that it is only now beginning. That’s because despite her years in entertainment, it is now that Jackie has not only gotten a firm grasp of who she is as an artiste, but she has also used the experience she has garnered to be able to manage herself and push her career to exactly where she wants it to be.
As a result, these years of finding herself have certainly paid off. The songstress only days ago premiered her passionate tribute ‘Guyana’ on the airwaves, showcasing not only her immense love and devotion for the country, but her lyrical and vocal talent in a way that Guyanese have never seen before.
Social media has since been alive with praise and admiration for Jackie, and people believe that the song is of a standard worthy of becoming a theme song for Guyana’s Golden Jubilee.
But this year certainly seems to be one filled with progress for Jackie; her song ‘Money’ – remixed by musical artistes Dave Winnel and Judge — was featured on the popular VH1 television show Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. Soon after, invitations started pouring in for the artiste to perform internationally. They say what don’t happen in a year, happens in a day, and it seems as though Jackie’s day has come.
“I can’t even explain how grateful I am for the support,” Jackie told the Buzz, “because sometimes in Guyana on a whole, it’s lacking and I can’t blame the public only, it’s a responsibility of the artists to bring good work but when people think it’s good they support.”
She stated that ‘Guyana’ was intended specially for the Golden Jubilee and that her aim was to make it a call to action for Guyanese to embrace and showcase every ounce of patriotism they possessed.
Those familiar with her work will know that Jackie’s style is very upbeat, leaning mostly towards a reggae and dancehall flair. Jackie has travelled Guyana over the years and performed on numerous local stages, having therefore built quite a following within Guyana. It is hard to believe that even as her dreams are now coming to fruition, that she has reached this far without official management. But the singer believes that her recipe for success is the best concoction for local artistes.
“Currently, I am self-managed. I have a team of really good people behind me but when it comes to responsibilities of my career, I handle that and I can’t complain about that,” she said.
She stated that from experience, managers and artistes often clash as regards vision, with the former losing touch of what the artistes really want.
Moreover, she found that locally, managers demand too much of an earning percentage from artistes in an already struggling industry.
“Artistes need to educate themselves; empower themselves; take control of their career. Managers are not our bosses, they work for us,” she said.
Though she manages herself, she is still signed with Jamaican publisher Julian Jones whoaids in the distribution of her music. She says that working with Jones provides her access to his wide network of connections. “Right now I am at the point where I think I’m now starting as Jackie. Before, it was experimental; I was trying to see what worked and what people responded to. But this is a new chapter — I know myself as an individual more than I did before and I am going to bring that out,” she said. For the Golden Jubilee, Jackie’s song ‘Guyana’ is only one off of an entire mixtape that she intends to release, all with work honouring her country.
Later in the year, the budding artiste will release her first studio album, and take it from there.
“I am trying to get my name out of Guyana; trying to get my talent out there and I believe it will happen.”