Rising dancehall star Teejay is prepping to release his debut EP with single, “Dip,” featuring fellow Jamaican singer, Tommy Lee Sparta.
The song, which dropped Friday, opens with an ominous intro as Teejay joins in for his verse. “It was inspired by the streets and the skankers,” said Teejay of the song, referring to Jamaican dancers, in a press release. “Basically, bad-mind[ed] people can’t stop us, and we’re not going to pree violence, we’re just gonna dance it off.”
The single is set to be featured on TeeJay’s debut EP, titled I Am Chippy, out Feb. 2. The project, co-executive produced by icon Shaggy alongside Sharon Burke and Steve Carless, features tracks such as, “4th of July” and “Fully Auto” with Jamaican star Bayka, along with his biggest hit so far, “Drift (Remix)” with Nigerian-American singer Davido.
TeeJay released several versions of “Drift” late last year, including one with French Montana, and sped-up and slowed-down versions of the song. He also dropped solo singles “Better Feelings” and “Rich Blessings,” and joined Cheflodeezy for “Ecstasy.”
“Me and the team, we created something called ‘Afro dancehall,’ ” he told Billboard last year of the track. “It’s more of an Afrobeats song with a dancehall artist on it. At the time, dancehall music was kind of slow and really toxic, based on everything that was going on in Jamaica.”
“I was like, ‘We need to embrace happiness [in] the world. Something everyone can dance to.’ We created that old dancehall feeling where people just want to dance,” he added. “It’s simple math. We used less words and more melody so people can remember it.”
I Am Chippy Track List:
1. “Dip” ft. Tommy Lee Sparta
2. “Fully Auto” ft. Bayka
3. “Twerk It”
4. “Chop Life” ft. Malie Donn
5. “53”
6. “4th of July”
7. “Drift” ft. Davido (Remix)
8. “Star” ft. Jaydon x Quada
9. “Never” ft. Skillibeng