Faacehalf ready for the spotlight

Faacehalf means what it sounds like - 'face-off' - a stage name bestowed on aspiring recording artiste Chinfi Shemroy Fairclough by a friend during his early years growing up in England.

"Faacehalf just means I'm ready for anything," he told THE STAR. However, he had to change the spelling of his name, as 'face-off' did not yield desirable results when he searched online.

But with this refreshing phonetic take on the contestable moniker, Faacehalf is ready for what the industry has in store.

While living in England during his late teens, Faacehalf frequently visited recording studios.

"I had a friend who was a rapper. He would always take me to the studio because he heard me singing Mavado songs - when him juss buss and him and Vybz Kartel ah war. He heard me singing like they were my songs, and he said 'you know, you can do music," he told THE STAR.

His first taste of the artiste life came when the friend invited him to sing the hook on one of his songs.

"It was kinda crappy, but you could still hear seh sumn deh deh," he said.

Hearing the potential from the so-called 'crappy' song, Faacehalf was motivated and began putting pen to paper.

"I started to write songs because I started to believe in myself. My mother used to say 'See the boy downstairs ah mad'," he said.

Despite the apparent insanity, his mother eventually gave in, and became a reluctant supporter to his aspiration.

"She hates the slackness, but when I wrote songs - she ask to hear it same way. She'd say I sound good, that she can hear seh some talent is there, but I just slack. That's how she started showing that she believe in me," he said.

Faacehalf is currently working with a producer from Big Yard Studios to put together his debut EP, which he hopes will be ready in time for January, his birth month.

Working with a total of nine songs, he also hopes the collection will reflect the range of his influences.

"I listen to 'weird' music, like disco, techno and them kinda stuff. Not every Jamaican listens to techno," he said. Nevertheless, he sees how his varied playlists work in his favour.

"At times, I tend to do songs where my friends end up saying 'How you come up with them kinda songs on them riddims?' You have to think outside the box before you find yourself doing what everybody else doing and make everything sound the same," he said.

Without leaving all of the 'slackness', Faacehalf is more focused on the long-term game.

"Positive songs are the best things right now because it always come right back to positive things. I'm not saying I don't do slack. But my guess is that positives work in the long run," he said.