TEINO EVANS, Staff Reporter
From left, Craig Jackson, Oniel Edwards and Kevin Blaire, singers from the dancehall group Voicemail. - FILE
'HEY'! THAT IS the greeting on everyone's 'Voicemail' as the dancehall trio release their debut album in Jamaica this week.
The album, entitled Hey, has already reached 'Gold' status in Japan, with shipments of over 100,000 copies and has been visible on the major music charts in Japan over the past few months.
The success of the album comes as good news for the group, which has been making strides within the past two years with a handful of dance oriented hits on the Jamaican and international reggae charts.
DROP AT A GOOD TIME
"Personally mi excited bout di whole thing, everybody has been asking about the album and it suppose to hit stores by now, suh the whole time is just a happy one, di album drop at a good time wid all dem festivals and shows coming up," group member Oneil told THE STAR in an interview.
Craig, another group member, says, "Fadda God has been doing this work for a long time an is a wonderful feeling to see that the hard work is paying off. This is just step one and there is a lot more work to be done and fans to be pleased".
Kevin agrees, but says taking things to the next level will depend largely on how much promotion they put into the album.
GREAT FEELING
"Bwoy is a great feeling to see your first effort achieve so much and growing, it's definitely a overwhelming feeling and a humbling feeling. I really don't know what to say for the U.S. market, but between the release date and now, a whole heap a people been asking where they can get the album an from that response we can really expect to even reach gold in other places, it jus depend on the promotion that we put into it now," he said.
Craig added, "We will be away for a week in the U.S. after Sumfest where we will be doing some promotions and launch and then we will get back and plan the launch in Jamaica, so fans, look out for Voicemail at a venue near you."
BMOBILE SIGNING
The VP-released U.S. and international version of the album which was relaesed on Tuesday, July 18, comes on the heels of Voicemail's official signing with bmobile. The group has been working with the mobile brand for a while and recently sealed the deal to promote the brand via billboards, print and radio advertisements.
"Their commitment, support, drive and positive energy is amazing and that alone made it very clear that we wanted them to be a part of the bmobile family of entertainers," bmobile's marketing guru, Tara Playfair-Scott, said in a release. "As you know Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and Wayne Marshall have been bmobile entertainers for almost three years and Voice Mail is a welcome addition," she said.
Kevin says this new partnership is destined for great things because, "when Voicemail is endorsing anything we endorse it to the fullest, it definitely feels good and we going to be working it, anywhere you see Voicemail, bMobile will be there. We'll be on advertising campaigns, billboards, our faces will be on phone cards, whole heap a tings."
Voicemail is currently getting things in place for their upcoming performances at Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest and bmobile Reggae Sunsplash. They are also booked for the ATI weekend in Negril and have performance dates in Bermuda, Canada and the U.S., over the next few weeks.
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