Conversation with Jamaican Singer, Belinda Brady

Two-time Juno Award nominee and Canadian Urban Music Award winner for best R&B single of the year Belinda Brady, was born in Kingston Jamaica. Surrounded by music as it was a central part of her family. Carl Brady, Belinda’s father was one of the original members of the iconic Byron Lee and the Dragonaires; one of the Caribbean’s longest running reggae acts. Belinda has performed as a background vocalist and dancer for internationally-renowned Reggae artist Shaggy and Julian Marley, as well as Soca star Denyse Plummer.  Here our conversation with Belinda.

Tell us about your background and how did you get started in the music industry?
My father, was one of the founding members of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. I was inspired watching him perform on stage. I was born into music and grew up in a musical family. I was also a member of the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company, (JMTC). Here I performed in various plays; dancing singing, acting.

How would you describe your sound?
My sound is diverse. Some would say multicultural. It has reggae, latin dance pop and jazz elements.

You sing R&B and Reggae and everything in between. What genre do you like best?
It is hard to say because I am a musician and whatever come out come out. I tend to lead a lot towards reggae and pop.

What were some of your fondest memories of performing/working Shaggy and Julian Marley?
With Shaggy, I enjoyed being on stage and seeing a sea of people totally engrossed into the music and the performance. It was almost spiritual because it was always positive energy with people coming together to enjoy them selves. The irony was, I felt they were the perfomers and I was the audience because I was always in awe of the way the audience were receiving the performance on stage.

With Julion; man I must say, I can never forget how ital it was. I was surrounded by pure ital vibes, from the food to the music to the people. It was more of a transcendance of spiritual self than anything. The rehearsals were like the meditation and the performance was the reciprocation of true and pure musical energy…We played Bob tunes which spoke and played through my veins. The impact changed my life completely into becoming a more spiritual and conscious human being.

Tell about your new album “Time of My Life”? How would you describe the genre and the songs on the album?
The new album is an extension of me as an artist, musician and writer. It is just another side of me. It has a more dance, pop vibe to it. I wanted to have a little fun and not get too too serious. So much negativity or sad things happening in the world, I wanted the majority of the project to be free and happy and danceable. Normally my sound is reggae or pop based…I wanted to indulge in a project I had never done before that also represented another side of me.

How many of the songs on the album did you write?
I wrote the entire record with a team of people including, Chip Fu, from the Fu-schenickens and Marcus Kane as the producer.

What are you most proudest to date about your career?
I am proud of the growth and acceptance that I am actually a talent and I am actually good at what I do without having to wait for reassurance. The stage is my platform!

What other projects are you working on right now?
Currently working on a reggae EP and looking forward to that and perhaps a reality TV show in the works, who knows?

My favorite guilty pleasure is…
chocolate with nuts and raisins

Growing up my hero was…
My parents

A movie I never get tired of watching is…
Sound of Music & Legends of the Fall

Thanks for the interview and we wish you all the best. 

You can find Belinda’s music in the Itunes store.

Social Media:
Twitter: @BelindaBrady
Facebook: belindabradymusic
SoundCloud: belinda-brady-1
Instagram: belindabrady1