It was supposed to be the theme song for an online talk show but, almost immediately after being released on YouTube, DJs paid attention, and Jammette Woman hit the radio airwaves.
Gerelle Forbes, one of the four vocalists on the song, explained she and the second vocalist, Tyker Phillip, host a weekly live talk show called 2 Jammettes, every Sunday at 4pm on OURRadio.fm and on the Digicel Go Loud App.
The third vocalist, singer Shannon Francois, is also a cast member and director. And Richard “Chromatics” Rajkumar, owner of OURRadio.fm, is featured on the track.
2 Jammettes, which premiered in September 2021, forms part of Forbes and Phillip’s overarching Jammette brand that they co-developed as directors of their own media company, Sthenic22 Ltd.
After 42 episodes in season one, the duo was ready to start season two of 2 Jammettes in September 2022 but they wanted a theme song. Since both Forbes and Phillip have a background in theatre and media, they decided to use their skill sets to write a song that was relevant to the character of the jamette.
“Initially, the theme song was supposed to be a verse and a chorus, just to be the intro of the show. Not with these two. It’s all out or nothing,” said Francois.
So, the three women went to Roderick “Chuck” Gordon who helped them write it.
Forbes said they were in the recording studio with Mevon Soodeen of Xplicit Entertainment when he encouraged them to do a full song. Additionally, they felt if they were going to put out a full song, and both Phillip and Forbes are film producers, they could as well make a music video.
The video was posted on the 2 Jammette’s YouTube channel at 3 am on January 10, and Phillip immediately started broadcasting it to family, friends and associates. In a few hours, the video had 400 views. A few hours later, there were over 1,000 views, and by 2pm, it was being played on next99.1 fm.
[caption id="attachment_997089" align="alignnone" width="1024"] From left, Tyker Phillip, Shannon Francois and Gerelle Forbes. - SUREASH CHOLAI[/caption]
The next day, they heard it being played on Boom Champions 94.1 fm, and, within ten days, the YouTube video had almost 2,000 views. Two days after the release, they sent the song out to DJs.
“The song has a J’Ouvert feel to it. And although we just wanted it for the theme song, we are trying to teach with this Jammette brand. The best way to reach the masses is through frequency/sound. And we still have to honour the other experienced artists on the team who came on board with full support from the inception, so we had to commit 100 per cent,” said Forbes.
She said Jammette Woman has nothing to do with Carnival and is just three characters introducing themselves through song. It is an anthem voiced by three different types of jamettes, telling stories of spirituality, revolution and mischief.
Those themes are true to the vocalists’ personalities as the articulate, bold, formidable women joked
