By Naomi Parris

Delon Garraway is looking to bring a new flavour to Guyana’s music industry.
The 24-year-old hopes he can be a trendsetter and build an empire to provide better opportunities for upcoming performers like himself.
Garraway, who goes by the stage name ‘Stiffy Stiff’ has always had a knack for music and the performing arts. He told the Buzz that he started writing and making music during his high school days and it was music he said that got him through some of the toughest times in his life.

Garraway disclosed that he grew up in Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, a village which is sometimes seen or stigmatised as a home for delinquents.
“Growing up in Pouderoyen I was around a lot of bad influence, so I was engaging in a lot of negative activity.”

Garraway was able to rise above the stereotype and with the help of his family and his music he convert into a ‘humble entertainer’ and a proud member of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF).

As it relates to his music, he said, “The genre is basically dancehall but just to show my versatility I tend to mix it, so I would try a little bit of soca, a little bit of R&B crossover. “ It’s a new type of vibe I’m bringing to the table something called creole dancehall, Im trying to build our own culture, because Guyana when it comes to music we don’t really have our own thing.”
Garraway noted that he is hoping to change the narrative of Guyanese artiste, who often adopt the sounds and cultures of other countries while telling a story.
“We have to use our local slangs, we can’t be creole dancehall and sounding like Jamaican and sounding like Trinidadian. So I’m using our local slangs to tell a story which mainly is supposed to be funny.”

While Garraway is currently at a high point in his career, he said that the climb was difficult.
“At first I didn’t receive any support, it was like I had the raw talent, but no one really paid me no mind.” By the end of 2019, his fan level increased. “I start getting more support, producers start reaching out to me, sponsors start reaching out to me; I start getting radio plays and stuff like that.”

Given the challenges he faced at the beginning of his music career, Garraway noted that he is working to put young artiste on the international map.
“My main target is to brand Guyanese music overall on an international level, I want to put all Guyanese artiste on streaming sites, like Spotify, iTunes and these different streaming sites that we could broadcast in Canada and these different places.”

He disclosed that he and a few other friends banded together to host an open mic for young artiste to perform and showcase their talent, however due to the coronavirus pandemic the event has been postponed.

‘Stiffy Stiff’ feels that before artiste can move forward progressively in the industry, it is extremely important that Guyana revisits and reforms its copyright laws to protect artiste like himself.

“We need to update the whole copyright laws, we do have a copyright law but it has not been updated for many years and it will also motivate artiste to put out their material.”