“When I was growing up, music was never in my
agenda of course I used to sing and act in church but I never saw myself as an
artist, especially because I was academically very smart and scientifically
inclined.
By the time I was 15 My Brother Randzee and Extended family
like Richard Kings had already had selling albums, My mates and friends like
Dijay Karl, Neglect and Others had already been producing and from time to time
I would pass by the studio to see what was up. Back then they had no sponsors,
no proper equipment and all, but they enjoyed what they did.
So
one day my brother comes back from university, and by that time 2 face idibia
had just surfaced in the African scene. Inspired by 2 face idibia hit song, my
brother made some instrumentals but because he was a professional rapper, he
could not sing on. So just out of excitement, I asked him to give me the beat,
I took it, composed some melodies and with his help adjusted a few lyrics. I
recorded the song home, with headset microphone and he mixed it. Somehow the
song leaked in my hometown, and gained the favor of the young generation. The
song was titled “My Friend”.
Later
that year Dijay Karl then known as Karl B, produced a song for me, titled Them
Say, and I performed it during the biggest festival in Nso Land called Ngonso
Festival, after my performace, a host of renowned names from my community
expressed interest in producing and promoting my music, because I was a young
student with little or no experience in the music industry, I turned down the
offers and henceforth decided to do music part time with the support of my
family.
By
that time, I had no artist’s name, only after the song started spreading and
people started asking, I decided to create an artist name. And I chose the name
Street Jay. But my career officially took off, when in 2009, I recorded a song
in Bahood records Titled I Love You. The song became a hit in Bamenda and was
played on every radio and Dj spot, and the video became one of the first
Anglophone videos to be featured on Tony Nobody’s Mboa, in an era when hip hop
was the only thing that represented youth culture.
Since
then, I have more than 25 officially released songs, compiled in 3 Albums, not
counting featurings’. In 2015 I changed my artist name to Shey Ductu, and have
been doing my best to rebrand and make a better comeback.
Click below to listen to feeling Good By Shey Ductu
