RAJAHWILD INTERVIEW: THE RISE OF A DANCEHALL ROCKSTAR
In recent years, the Dancehall music scene has witnessed the emergence of several talented artists, but few have made waves as significantly as Jamaican musician Rajahwild. With his catchy viral tracks ‘Go Go’ and ‘Wild Out’, Rajahwild has captivated audiences and is rapidly becoming a household name within the genre.
Rajahwild’s rapid rise to fame is testament to his talent. What started as a passion for music has transformed into a global fanbase, with his tracks gaining massive traction both locally and internationally. The release of ‘Go Go’ marked a turning point for the artist, showcasing his unique blend of traditional Dancehall rhythms with contemporary sounds that resonate with today’s youth.
The song quickly went viral, often flooding social media platforms and playlists, which played a pivotal role in catapulting Rajahwild into the limelight. His ability to engage audiences through energetic performances, catchy hooks, and relatable lyrics is what sets him apart from other emerging artists in a saturated market.
Beyond his music, Rajahwild’s persona is a key component of his success. He embraces a rockstar lifestyle, characterized by bold fashion choices, lively performances, and a magnetic stage presence. With his performance alongside Alkaline in London this week, we caught up with the rising star to talk about gambling on his own career, his writing style and how he’s reacted to his global success…
For your first hit ‘Member Good’ you spent the last $200,000 JMD on creating it, shooting the video and promoting the song. Looking back, how do you feel it’s paid off for you?
As you can see I’m here now, doing an interview with Viper Magazine. It’s been a great experience, a great journey. I came from the streets, to the world, that’s the best way I can put it. It’s a great feeling, I’m proud of myself because they told me I couldn’t reach here; that I couldn’t do something great. A whole lot of people would tell me that when I was a wild juvenile but from the streets to the world, it’s a great feeling; no joke. And if I could go back and reinvest that 200,000 JMD again, I’d do it again every time. It’s one of the best gambles I ever made in my life, no risk no reward, that’s my advice for the youth, risk it for the biscuit, don’t do nothing folly. believe.
You did a freestyle of ‘Another Dollar’ on TikTok, and it went viral before you released the song. How much has social media played a role in your career and how do you feel that the freestyle going viral on TikTok had on your career.
Yeah, it was a big thing. I used my $200,000 and did ‘Memba Good’ then ‘Another Dolla’ was my second hit after that really solidified my thing. Social media played a big part, I don’t even really use TikTok but TikTok pushed my music far. There’s people in [distant] places dancing to my songs. Social media is a big part of my career especially now as the new generation youth where we’re not really outside too much, people don’t see us. So we have to utilise the social media to interact with our fans and keep in tune with the people.
You’re seeing people from outside of Jamaica interacting with the music as well as people in Jamaica.
Yeah, really and truly.
Your lyrics are very visual, how long have you been writing?
I wrote my first, not full song but I wrote my first song when I was in primary school, like fifth grade. I wrote a song in school with my friend and I went home and sang it to my brother. He said, “yo, that’s tough” and I liked the feeling and said, I can do this, this is one thing I’m good at. I’m not good at nuff things, I’m good at maths and counting up money, I’m good at writing, I don’t love to read but I’m good at writing. I’m not good at a lot of things.
But words were there from the start because that’s a young age to start writing.
Yeah it was a remix of a popular song, a female song that my mother used to listen to,a popular R&B song, I grew up with a whole heap of them in my ears.
Your songs reference a lot of real life experiences. Is it important for you that your audience find your songs relatable to listen to?
That’s important to me, the music and my fucking life, I live this shit now. I go to the studio and I put it on the riddim. So it’s extremely important for my fans to relate to it and it’s extremely important because it’s not like I just get up and sing things, you see me? It feels good knowing there’s a movement at the back of the thing. Because we come from the streets, so the streets to the world. Science.
And even as a superstar, you still want to speak to the regular person and talk about what they go through as well because you remember the experiences on your journey.
Yeah it’s real life because we’re still out there in the regular world and have regular interaction and deal with people on a regular day.
You’ve had multiple viral songs now, obviously, ‘Go Go’ is one of the biggest but before that was ‘Wild Out’. You already went viral with that internationally. So, were you surprised how far your songs went in those moments when you saw how viral you became?
Surprised, yes. But not by how far I’ve come. I don’t even know the word to describe how I feel, I just have a way so as a boy I envisioned my life like this and it won’t stop here. This is the journey to where I see myself.
Were you surprised how international you became with your viral hits?
No, I’m just surprised, by how the songs took off, I never expected them to be like upbeat songs like ‘Wild Out’ because I’m more reserved so I put out more reserved types of music. But when I get in my vibe, no pussy test.
Obviously, England’s America, Canada, they all have big Dancehall scenes…
Yeah, it’s crazy in England, I have a tour there this month. The thing’s crazy in England, England is one of the biggest supporters of Dancehall. They come like they’re Jamaican, big up England! America same way, we get support over there too.
When you go to the UK, is there anything that you are expecting or excited to see? What do you expect from the tour with Alkaline?
I’m excited about the UK because I’ve been working on myself so I’m excited to go to the UK and show my fans and show the world what I’ve been working on. I have a whole performance, a whole team of people I work with now, I’m gonna bring up the quality of the production. So, I’m excited to show my fans what we’ve worked on and where we’re from because I went to England last year, I’ve been there before, this is my second tour, it was me and Skeng last year.
