K-Dean - CONTRIBUTED
FIVE YEARS ago when Shaggy became the target of many jilted females through his song, It Wasn't Me, singer K-Dean was in a Dubai nightclub rocking to the beat of her fellow Jamaican's runaway hit.
She says a colleague encouraged her to cut an 'answer' song to Shaggy's international smash, and in true Jamaican fashion she did. The suggestive tone of her song, It Was Me, did not impress some who heard it, including Shaggy's management, and the record was never released.
"My version of the song suggested I was the one who caught my boyfriend with his best male friend, was recorded on the instrumental track with the original song with vocal arrangements produced by yours truly," she told The Gleaner. "It was in no way, shape, or form, intended to offend anyone, especially Shaggy."
MAKING RECORDS
The It Was Me episode certainly did not discourage K-Dean from making more records. Currently, she is recording songs for her debut album in South Florida. She says it will be released in September by FULAVYBZ, the Atlanta, Georgia record label she co-owns and operates with business partner Paula Sean.
The yet-to-be-titled project includes collaborations with two well-known South Florida reggae residents, Marcia Griffiths and Screwdriver. She recorded The Visionary Voices with Griffiths, a member of Bob Marley's legendary harmony group, The I-Threes, and Two Wrongs with Screwdriver who is best known for the dancehall hit, No Mama.
OTHER MUSICAL INTERESTS
In addition to writing all the songs, K-Dean played guitar, bass, trumpet, drums, alto saxophone and keyboards.
"My primary focus is on strong lyrical content for conscious and cultural listening with a spiritually meditative and dancing vibe," she said. "This album promises a bit of everything with something for everybody."
K-Dean (given name Karen Cover) may not be a big name in reggae circles, but the thirty-something vocalist has been involved in the music business for close to 20 years. Born in Kingston and raised in Portmore, St. Catherine, she credits her appreciation for a diverse brand of music to her stepfather, Astley Buchanan, whose record collection included everything from Marley to soul man Al Green to country singer Jim Reeves.
At age 13, she migrated to the United States where she attended the famous Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. That's the alma mater of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II and a major Rhythm and Blues group known as The Commodores.
Interestingly, K-Dean's first records - Fire, Always Magic, I Wanna Rock You and Dance Without Prejudice - were co-produced by Milan Williams of The Commodores. The group recorded I Wanna Rock With You for their 1986 album, United.
But perhaps her biggest gig to date has been in Dubai. After responding to a newspaper ad searching for a singer, she headed to the oil-rich Middle East-country where she performed on the club scene for three years.
