Webley
Born Jermaine Sheldon Harvey on April 18th, 1975 in a little country district called Mount Pleasant in the beautiful parish of Portland; he was born with a great passion for music. Webley used to make sound systems out of mud (clay) and old radio parts before he could even walk. He used to mimic musicians even before he could properly form his words. He was a very popular baby and toddler, entertaining folks in the district with his dancing, singing and “instrument playing”.
Webley found fame at Titchfield High school as a rapper and a hip-hop/pop dancer. He represented his parish and high school in the Jamaica Festival, where he achieved two gold medals for dancing. However, singing and songwriting were his first love so he did not pursue dancing to any great extent; he decided to concentrate on his music career instead. He was influenced by artistes such as Donnie Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Dennis Brown and Beres Hammond, among others.
After high school in 1992 he migrated to Barbados to live with his uncle (Gary Riley) in search of a better life. His uncle had a sound system called ‘Virgo International’ which he used to play at parties, dances and every happening event. While setting up the sound system, Webley and his uncle would warm up by listening to a song, flipping it over and singing on the riddim (version). One evening while setting up, Webley said: “I was singing on a riddim and my uncle asked, ‘Yuh get new tunes?’ I stopped singing and answered then he said, ‘A yuh did a sing?, Yuh wicked man!’ Recognizing his potential, his uncle began to encourage and guide him. Webley recorded his first song entitled ‘African Princess’, which was written by his uncle, on a compilation album entitled ‘Backyard Riddims’, produced by John Roett and Mickey Hulsmier. He later wrote and recorded his second song entitled ‘Genie’, which was a big hit in Barbados, on another compilation album entitled ‘Baje Roots’, produced by Bajan producers Deepu Panjwani and Skule Bwoy. Webley has performed at some of the biggest events in Jamaica and Barbados such as Jamaica International Reggae Day, Jamaica Festival Road Shows, Jamaica Hylton Hotel and more. He has performed on stage with acts such as Rupert (Rupee) Clarke, Spragga Benz, Cocoa Tea, Peter Ramm, Bounty Killer, just to name a few.
Webley came back to Jamaica in 1997 determined to continue pursuing his musical career where he met producers Jelanie Thompson and Richard Small who recorded his first single entitled ‘Tell Me…’ which brought him onto the reggae lovers rock scene.