Joanna Marie and husband Ed Robinson.
It has been nearly 40 years since Joanna Marie Robinson recorded Single Lady, her first track, however she was musically energetic earlier than that observe was launched. She continues to report, however has additionally been a producer, artiste supervisor and co-founded a radio station.
That endurance is being acknowledged by the forty second Worldwide Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA), which is able to current her with a Lifetime Achievement Award on March 30 on the Coral Springs Middle for the Arts in South Florida.
“It’s an unbelievable honour to be recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award. This acknowledgment means a lot to me as a result of it displays not simply my journey but additionally the love and help I’ve obtained alongside the way in which,” she mentioned. “It’s a reminder of the onerous work, sacrifices, and fervour which have fueled my profession, and I’m really humbled and grateful to be celebrated on this method.”
Generally known as Joanna Marie, she is a mainstay of the South Florida reggae scene. Single Lady was produced by Clint O’Neil, the influential Jamaican disc jockey credited with making reggae fashionable on that area’s airwaves.
In the course of the Nineteen Nineties, whereas she continued to report, Joanna Marie additionally labored as a concord singer for acts like Garnet Silk. At present, she manages Reggae International Radio together with her husband Ed Robinson, a fellow artiste finest recognized for his hit cowl of Bob Dylan’s Knocking On Heaven’s Door.
She pointed to probably the most evident adjustments within the music enterprise within the final 40 years.
“The music enterprise has developed tremendously since I started. Know-how has revolutionised how music is produced, distributed, and consumed. Once I began, we relied closely on bodily information, radio airplay, and reside performances,” Joanna Marie famous. “As we speak, digital platforms and social media dominate, making music extra accessible but additionally creating a really saturated market. Artistes now have extra management and independence, however it’s additionally a problem to face out and stay genuine in an period of fast tendencies and viral moments.”
Born Joanna Marie Espeut, she was raised in higher St Andrew. The Espeuts, initially from France, have lived in Jamaica because the late nineteenth Century.
One in all her cousins was singer Suzanne Sofa, who died in 2018.
As she appears to be like ahead to the IRAWMAs, Joanna Marie pointed to rocky occasions in her profession.
“There have been moments once I felt missed or underestimated, notably as a girl within the reggae trade. Nonetheless, I’ve discovered that these disappointments usually paved the way in which for development and better alternatives. They taught me resilience and pushed me to remain true to my craft and imaginative and prescient,” she mentioned
