New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Teejay will release his anticipated forthcoming debut I Am Chippy (Warner Records) on February 2, 2024. The 9-track EP, co-executive produced by diamond-selling musical legend
Shaggy along with Sharon Burke and Steve Carless, is available now for pre-order. This announcement follows his recent digital cover story with Billboard. The 29-year-old Jamaican artist holds the torch for "the future of dancehall" in the music platform's Genre Now issue.
Teejay is looking to redefine what dancehall music looks like in mainstream spaces. I Am Chippy is a modern take on dancehall. Titled after a name Teejay was given as a child, the EP will invite listeners to a more personal understanding of the artist. He experiments musically while also giving fans his signature singjay style, a multiskilled mix of effortless singing and deejaying (rapping) in the same breath.
I Am Chippy will feature Teejay's breakout 2023 anthem "Drift" as a bonus track and its latest remix with Nigerian afrobeats hitmaker Davido. The "slick dancehall ditty" (Billboard) was one of the biggest dancehall songs of 2023 and continues to climb the U.S. Billboard's charts (R&B/Hip Hop Airplay, Rhythmic Top 40 Airplay, and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay).
It has over xx million global streams, amassed nearly a billion TikTok views for its viral dance (originally created by Gabi Don). Usain Bolt, Burna Boy,
Cardi B and
Offset are just a few of the famous faces seen grooving to his track on socials.
Following "Drift" is another contagious single "Dip" by the same producer
Panda and featuring dancehall favorite
Tommy Lee Sparta. The song is also inspired by the popular Jamaican dance created by Pata Skeng.
He keeps up this playfulness on the EP with the upbeat "Twerk It." The song will command movement on any dance floor, boasting suggestive lyrics and a romantic Spanish inspired guitar riff fused with a dancehall trap inspired beat by DJ Frass Records.
Like the many confidantes who helped paved the way for him, Teejay pays it forward and features a variety of Jamaican talent on the EP. In addition to
Tommy Lee Sparta, Teejay invites dancehall don Skillibeng on "
Never" (Slingerz Records), the gritty baritone upstart Bayka on "Fully Auto" (Panda/Sabaster Muzik), Malie Donn on "Chop Life" (Overproof Records), and Jaydon & Quada on the inspiring march-to-the-top track "Star" (Extol Music). With I Am Chippy, Teejay displays his range and quality as well as his commitment to his talents and a desire to raise dancehall's bar.
Teejay has been a mainstay in Jamaican dancehall for almost a decade, known for his impact on the island's vibrant musical genre and for pumping out an arsenal of anthems - "
People" (2022), "Bitcoin" (2021), "Unfaithful Games" (2020), "Rags To Riches" (2020), "
Moonlight" (2020), "Stimulate (Push It Een)" (2020), and "Up Top Boss" (2018).
Recognized for his impeccable vocal range and lyrical dexterity, he has earned the respect from the dancehall fans and musical peers in his community - from Vybz Kartel, who has guest featured on Teejay's tracks like "Up Top Boss" & "
Pressure" to Grammy-winning legend Shaggy, who has taken Teejay under his wing as a mentor and co-executive producer on his debut EP.
From the struggle and strife, Teejay has come a long way from his humble beginnings, but still has his eye on the prize. "Me build up the board house to concrete now…but me still nuh satisfy," he says. On his legacy and how he wants to be remembered, the artist states, "That Teejay is a multifaceted artist who [is] lyrically inclined, everything amazing, a young legend."
Born Timoy Janeyo Jones, Teejay, also known as Up Top Boss, hails from Montego Bay and grew up with mother, uncle, four brothers and one sister in a small boardhouse in the coastal city. With little resources, he found salvation in music. He and his brothers would create music in their makeshift studio.
By nine years old, he released his first song "
I Know" on Don Corleone's 2005 Seasons Riddim written by his siblings
Tippa and Ice. The song received heavy rotation on Jamaica's IRIE FM radio station. This was just the beginning of his drift to success. He landed a coveted spot on Jamaica's largest annual music festival Reggae Sumfest in 2015, catapulting his name from his hometown to the entire nation.
As he continued to record on riddims with a slew of singles taking over the streets, he developed a cult following. 2023 became the year Teejay would finally hit his much anticipated milestone: linking up with GRAMMY-award winning and diamond-selling artist Shaggy, the two released "De Gyal Dem Time" which became an instant hit. They performed this song at this year's BET Awards over the summer.
A few months later Teejay's "Drift" took the world by storm. A departure from his lyrically-laden singles, the infectious record accompanied by a dance, dominated TikTok and became a vehicle for the artist to start charting. It piqued as a #1 top SHAZAM track in NYC around his Madison
Square Garden performance with DJ Funkmaster Flex to a sold-out 20,000+ crowd.
He continued to lit up on massive stage shows throughout the year, including: Afrotech in Austin, TX,
Lil Wayne and
Friends Performance in Baltimore, MD and Hot 97's Winter Jam in Brooklyn, NY at the Barclays Center. Additionally, the artist became one of the most recent dancehall artists to sign to a major label where he found a home at Warner Records. His 2024 EP I Am Chippy will be an inspirational tale of his journey thus far.
