I saw Etana in concert a few years ago in Jamaica. About a year or so before I did, I had heard about a young singer who had given up a recording contract in the States to return to Jamaica to devote herself to the music she wanted to sing and to do it her own way. I was impressed and when I heard she was to perform at the 2009 literary festival in St. Elizabeth, I knew where I had to be.

Born Shauna McKenzie in 1983 in Kingston, Etana migrated to Florida in 1992. She intended to become a nurse but the musical talent that had been discovered when she was six took hold. She left Broward Community College in 2000.

She joined Grit, a female girl group. In 2005, Etana became a backup singer for another reggae musician, Ritchie Spice, and performed with him in Europe and North America.

Etana’s single, Wrong Address, hit the number one spot in Jamaica in 2006. She recorded her first album, The Strong One, in 2008.

Give a listen to another song from the same album, I Am Not Afraid.

Enjoy!