Horace Fisher, Star Writer

After years of fighting for the proverbial 'big buss', dancehall artiste Sample D has kicked his frustration aside and gone alternative with his just-released dancehall-western fusion track 'Tennessee Whiskey', and instantly, his career is gaining traction.

The deejay, who has logged almost 20 years in the music business and is known for 3-3-3, Simple Thing, Leggo Mi Hand and Them Don't Know, among a suite of other recorded songs says while he enjoys, relatively, good success overseas, there are difficulties breaking into the mainstream music fraternity locally.

"About a month ago, me drop a western-dancehall fusion Tennessee Whiskey, and trust me, since the tune touch road, the thing tun up like 7Up and a bun up like over Riverton," Sample D bragged. "A long time me inna the business, but it hard to make a breakthrough locally, so now me just a mix up the thing (music) with some other genres you know, dancehall-western style to expose the music to a different market."

According to the deejay, who has lived and worked in a number of Caribbean territories, mainly in St Maarten, and has opened shows for visiting Jamaican reggae and dancehall artistes, namely, Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Ghost, Shine Head and Merciless on their Caribbean tours, the dancehall-western fusion has opened international doors for his music.

He noted that Tennessee Whiskey, which was recorded at Move Up Records in May Pen, Clarendon, on the Tennessee Whiskey rhythm, is getting good rotation on local radio and is also doing well overseas, especially in the Caribbean.