Shawn Storm has finally done it, smashed dancehall’s glass ceiling with the breakout hit of the Summer, My Life on the Gangsta City riddim.The song has resonated with not only dancehall-savvy teenagers but
with anyone who has had to struggle to achieve anything worthwhile in
their life. Shawn Storm is getting mad props for the honest
well-written sentiments expressed in the song and you almost cheer for
him when he deejays: Dem a pree how Teacha sign me and mi gone
now/Everybody know bout Shawn now/So when a bad mind ah try stop mi, everybody mi pray, chant a Psalm now.
In this booming hard-knock anthem, Storm proves that he’s unafraid to challenge himself or his peers, and certain lines are bonafide tear-jerkers such as when he deejays that “all now mi no fix mi mother eye”, a reference to his mother who is legally blind because of the glaucoma which has afflicted both her eyes.
“My mother, Carlene Campbell, inspired me to write this song, and all
the experiences in the song are true, it’s really an autobiography and
I poured my heart into it, everybody say ah the baddest song mi ever
do and it’s real, it ah talk about my life inna real life,” he said.
He is the last of three children for his parents. Both of his siblings
are overseas and that means that Shawn Storm is the person taking care
of his 66 year-old mother whose glaucoma has robbed her of her
eyesight. Things are further compounded by the death of his father,
Neville Campbell, earlier this year. The couple had been married
almost 30 years.
“Mi de ya fi her straight, she is very close to me, closer than tattoo
to skin. On her birthday in June, I took her out for a lobster dinner
and got her a brand new AC for her room. It’s rough though, she has
glaucoma, and it’s growing under her eyes and affecting the nerves and
I am worried about her since my father died, you know what it is like
when couples have been together for so long and one dies,” he said.
In the meantime, a video for the single, shot by Ras Tingle,
premiered on local television in early June and the song’s growing
buzz has made Shawn Storm one of the hottest acts in the Portmore
Empire. It could very well be the Summer of Shawn.
“Every station ah play it, the response has been phenomenal,” he said.
He is already working on a follow-up, a song called Nah Give Up for TJ Records.
Storm is known for singles such as Affi Fight which hit #1 on CVM TV
Hitlist and peaked at #3 on the FiWi Choice top ten charts, Be Wise
which charted on the HYPE TV charts and This Is Love which hit the
pole position on the CVM Hitlist charts as well..
Born Shawn Campbell, he attended Waterford Primary before moving onto
Jose Marti High school where he graduated in 1997.He started deejaying
in the year 2001 when dancehall megastar and Empire head Vybz Kartel
inspired him to get involved in the music industry.
“Vybz Kartel has played an instrumental role in my career, he has set
the ting so that Shawn Storm can make it in this business and I won’ t
stop till mi mek it inna this industry,” he said.
He scored big last year with ‘Affi Fight’ on the Birthday rhythm for
producer Ainsley ‘Notnice’ Morris. The video, shot by ace director
Nordia Rose, shot to #2 on the CVM Hitlist charts, and many still
remember his first hit, Be Wise that won him a legion of new fans, but
it is My Life which will finally make him on the top lieutenants in
Kartel’s Portmore Empire.
Shawn Storm has honed his craft performing in countries such as
Switzerland, France, St. Maarten, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Holland,
Grenada, Guyana, Barbados and Antigua. He has performed at big ticket
shows like Reggae Sumfest 2007 and Sting 2007-9.
“I am eyeing a spot on this year’s Reggae Sumfest, I would love to
get 15 minutes on that stage to show what I can do, put everything out
there on that stage,” he said.
In everything that Shawn Storm does, he gives his heart. Now all he
needs is the world to give him their ears.
COURTESY OF ONE876ENTERTAINMENT.COM
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