Konshens

Jamaican dancehall reggae singer Konshens became an international superstar almost immediately after bursting onto the music scene in 2005 with the hit single “Pon Di Corner.” Prolific as both a solo artist and a contributor to other artist’s tracks, Konshens appeared on dozens of popular dancehall songs throughout the 2010s, as well as releasing several full-length efforts like 2018′s party-ready It Feel Good.
Konshens was born Garfield Spence in Kingston in 1985. Early on he looked to Beres Hammond as his primary musical influence, and developed a vocal style that was strong and confident yet smooth and melodic. He first began making music as part of duo Sojah, along with his brother Delmark Spence (Delus). Their single “Pon Di Corner” became a number one hit in Japan, leading to a lengthy tour of that country, which was Konshens’ first experience performing live. After the duo released the Japan-only Sons of Jah album and completed another tour, they decided to work on solo material. Konshens began releasing a steady stream of dancehall hits, including “Winner,” “Rasta Imposter,” and “Insanity.” His songs would range from urgent, socially conscious pleas to sexually charged dance numbers. He made a guest appearance on Tarrus Riley’s 2009 hit “Good Girl Gone Bad,” from his album Contagious.
Konshens toured around the world and developed huge fan bases in Europe, Africa, and South America, but he still remained massively popular in Japan, and his debut album, Real Talk (which collected many of his early hits), was released exclusively in Japan in 2010. His worldwide debut, Mental Maintenance, was issued via his own Subkonshus Music in 2012, and featured guest appearances by Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Voicemail, and others. Konshens continued releasing singles in addition to appearing on tracks by Sean Paul, Eva Simons, Kreesha Turner, and others. Among his more impressive hits were 2016′s “Bruk Off” and 2017′s “Turn Me On.” His nonstop stream of new songs paved the way for 2018 studio album It Feel Good. The LP featured guest appearances from dancehall royalty Shaggy as well as R&B and rap stars like Rick Ross and Chris Brown. He balanced out the more refined studio album with the appropriately titled and sexually explicit mixtape Raw, released later the same year. In 2019, he returned with another brief mixtape, Badman Vs. Nice Guy. ~ Paul Simpson