It is unclear exactly how much money upcoming artist Alkaline paid the tattoo artist to inject ink into his sclera, endowing him with the most-talked-about set of pupils, but what is clear is that there is much more to Alkaline than meets the eyes.

A graduate of Ardenne High School in St Andrew, Alkaline is now playing quite a balancing act as he indulges his passion for music, while pursuing a journalism degree at the University of the West Indies' Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication.

"My mother is one of those persons who believes in the value of a good education. She also feels it is vital to have something to fall back on, a real career outside of music. There's nothing wrong with that kind of thinking as the more versatile you are the more you can empower yourself and those around you," the artiste, christened Earlan Bartley, stated.

his enigmatic side

Brushing aside the hype of his eye tattoo, Alkaline his music will be doing the talking, not the gimmickry. He said the eye tattoo is just his way of showing his enigmatic side and, if it happens to be eye-catching, then so be it.

"But I don't want it to overshadow my music." he said.

Already building quite a repertoire, Alkaline can be edgy but is conscious of the merits of doing songs that can comfortably be affixed with that 'fit for airplay' sticker.

One of the songs that attracted early attention was the Cahban Rekords-produced single, Not A Slack Song, and it really isn't.

Alkaline has also explored the notorious and beloved-by-the-dancehall concept, 'badmind', with a Nutten But Badmind, and takes this a bit further with Fake Friends, Ugly Truth and Church Folk.

Alkaline has stirred controversy with some of his lyrical content and video but, not surprisingly, he confessed that he rather enjoys pushing the envelope, musically and otherwise.

For this artiste who is blazing a trail called "dancehall meets urban" it's all about him being "not normal".

He is balancing his time in the studio, doing projects with sought-after producers Clive Hunt, Ward 21, UIM records, Amrz House records and a other major record labels.

Alkaline, who recently signed a two- year booking deal with Headline Entertainment, is now savouring a rise in popularity, evidenced by gigs in the Caribbean where his music is being heard and endorsed.

Alkaline's newest release, Wild Love, is already energising the dancehall and he is about to take things a notch higher with a collaboration with controversial female deejay, Spice.