Harmonie Dèja
Hailing out of West London, the multitalented songstress had her hands in music from an early age. Her mother planted the the seed of music in her, encouraging her to sing and teaching her how to sing Harmonies. She continued to follow her passion for music and attended college studying Music Performance and a degree in Music Production at the University of West London.
Harmonie spent the following years developing her craft, working in the music industry as a highly requested backing vocalist, touring the world alongside renowned Reggae artists such as Luciano Messenjah, Freddie McGregor, Lutan Fyah, Susan Codogan, JC Lodge and many, many more. Inspired by her musical peers, she began recording and released singles with various producers, and quickly developed her name as an artist and gained regular airplay on local UK radio stations with tracks such as 'Party Nice', 'Breaking Up', To You My Love ' and 'Dr Trouble' which earned her a respectable 2nd place in the UK Reggae top 10 Chart and two nominations for Best Female and Song OfThe Year at the AWSL Awards.
In 2015 Harmonie co-wrote and recorded a duet with one of Jamaica's legendary Reggae singers Frankie 'Dancehall' Paul before his passing, on a reality track called 'LIFE' distributed by Vpal. She later proved her artistry with an Honourable performance as an opening act for the Grammy award winning artist Erykah Badu on the London leg of her "Badu Vs Everythang" tour. In 2018 she was unexpectedly diagnosed and fought a gruelling battle with Breast Cancer, and won. It was during chemotherapy treatment and after losing her hair, as well as the realisation that life is short, that she made the ultimate decision to finally fulfil her life long dreams and start her own record/production label SHERO RECORDS, with a firm goal to beginproducing and releasing her own music independently. Now fully recovered and one year Cancer free, the female-owned label is set for great things and has undoubtedly become one to watch.
AKABU
The world’s first all-female reggae band, AKABU, began their journey when Diane White (bass) and sisters Shelomi and Paulette Coke (drums and keyboards respectively) formed the original unit calling themselves, “African Woman”. They were later joined by Valerie Skeete (guitar) and Natalie Xavier (vocals) and their debut album was entitled “African Woman Abroad”.
They were shortly joined by Barbara Naps (guitar/vocals), Vyris Edghill (vocals), and Caroline Williams (keyboards). Two further tracks recorded in Germany, titled ‘Warrior Queen’ and ‘Awake’, were included on a compilation album called “In Progress”, released on Misty in Roots’ People Unite label. The band’s name was changed to Akabu and they made history by being the first all-female band to take the stage at Jamaica’s Reggae Sunsplash, in front of a mesmerised audience.
AKABU experienced tremendous success performing around the world at prominent events, festivals and iconic venues such as Rebel Salute, Western Consciousness, Japan Splash, the Apollo, Harlem, and Madison Square Gardens. They have regularly supported A-listers of the international reggae fraternity such as Mighty Diamonds, Burning Spear, Aswad, Gregory Isaacs, Lee Scratch Perry, Toots and the Maytals, Aswad and Dennis Brown, to name a few.
