It’s always tough losing a parent. And for singer Jah Silent, the feeling of grief following the death of his mother in mid-2023, was overwhelming.
He and producer Damion “The Real Traxx” Nelson find common ground on ‘My Closest Friend’, a song released in August by Nelson’s company, Breaking Records llc.
The two are close friends and were there for each other when their mothers died. ‘My Closest Friend’ was actually written by Jah Silent as his mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
After his mother died, he presented the song in acapella form to Nelson who made a few nips and tucks before recording what became Jah Silent’s first released song in three years.
Nelson, who lives in the United States, has been producing music for 14 years. He said he tries to stamp his sound on each track he produces.
“My approach to music production is diverse; I’ve been interpolating a lot these days, but I also play instruments as well as use VSTs. I play with samples on Splice like Stephen ‘The Genius’ McGregor sound killa pack. Or I might have a melody or lyric in my head, and I record it, make a loop then build the music around that,” he explained.
Nelson is from Linstead, a lively market town in rural St. Catherine parish, Jamaica. Initially, he played drums in his church band and entered the national gospel competition as an artist with the song, ‘Lead Me’.
Working as studio engineer for producer Clive Hunt, he learned the intricacies of music production and launched his career as a producer in 2009. Since then, he has worked on songs by American rapper Coi Leray, Luciano and D’Angel.
