Caymanian music producer and entertainer King E Navassa has launched his first solo album, ‘The Ride’, and his music is already gaining support in the community.
Navassa, 31, who is based in the UK and has been writing songs for the last decade, said working on his first album has been a leap of faith that was two years in the making.
“I decided this is me. I’m doing it, my own funding, my own ideas, my own writing. I did it all… I was a little anxious, so I just put it out [there] and forgot about it for a little bit… But then the response was overwhelmingly positive,” he said.
The Ride, Navassa said, is a deeply personal story of his 15-year journey in songwriting.
He said each one of the songs is a poem to himself for the strides he has made along the way, from leaving Cayman to finding himself and his purpose.
Navassa said making his feelings public was nerve-racking for him, but he knew that it was something he had to do.
“I’ve been really anxious about it and just within… a year or two, I started to find myself fully from the inside… I was happy with learning who I was. Part of that was connected to my creativity, my writing, my art, and hence ‘The Ride’ is here,” he said.
Navassa said his love for music and writing started with his school days at John Gray High School, for which he wrote the first original graduation song for the class of 2009.
He said from then he knew the day would come when he would create something to tell the world who he was, complete with all the emotions that come with his larger-than-life personality.
“I’m proud of it. I’m confident in it. There’s like nothing anyone can say about it that will tear me down ’cause I know what I put out and, as time passes, you’ll see how the project grows,” he said, adding that the album is not the end of ‘The Ride’.
The album was released on Navassa’s birthday on 31 July and is available on iTunes, Spotify and on his YouTube page.
He plans to release a CD of the album.
Navassa said it was hard to pick a favourite track on the album as each song had special meaning to him.
“It was part of my journey in self-discovery, just learning to ride the emotions out… that I would be afraid to experience or to fully feel. Some things we avoid, we throw it in the back of our mind, we don’t deal with it. But I decided to go through them and see what kind of person it would make me within the past few years, and I was glad I was brave enough to do that,” he said.
The song ‘Set Free’, he explained, tells his story of leaving Cayman to move to the UK and the emotions he felt.
He said other Caymanians love that song because they share those same feelings.
“Joy Ride in particular is very special… It’s a very innocent song, kind of like that teenage angst or nervousness. It’s really cute, but I’ve been getting some real positive feedback from that one,” he added.
Navassa described his music as eclectic as it does not fit into the traditional R&B or pop genre.
However, he said the music is influenced by Janet Jackson, his favourite singer.
The music also honours his Caymanian roots with lyrics that refer to things in Cayman such as Seven Mile Beach.
He said he is looking forward to see where the album goes from here now that it is picking up steam.
Navassa said he, together with Brazilian Demithehomie, the co-producer ,and fellow Caymanian Yannick ‘Vassco’ Powell, the engineer, wrote some 30 songs before settling on the 10 that made the final cut.
He references his opening spoken monologue in the album as he offers advice to young Caymanians who want to produce their own music:
“You might be thinking you’re scared to mess up. You don’t want to make the wrong choice. But there’s no right or wrong choice. There’s only your choice to do it, so do it. Just don’t rush it.”
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