Reggae Sumfest Website

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

With an ever growing collection of prestigious music awards ranging from “Female Vocalist Of The Year 2007-2009” to “Most Admired Female Artist” Reggae singer/ songwriter Etana has struck a cord with the masses and like any beautiful melody she's winning the hearts of the people one song at a time. Spirited in her approach to communicate unfitting and inspirational messages to the youth she's been described by critics as the truth, one who will bring about real change with her powerful and captivating voice that at times seems flawlessly pure. Rebellious in her approach to denote systematic oppression against all races Etana takes pride in being an artist, she feels strongly that her responsibility is to express positive vibrations in her music and from this she will gracefully admit to staying the course.

Born Shauna McKenzie Etana spent her youthful days playing in the hillside community of August Town situated in the South Eastern side of Jamaica. The only daughter of a fairly large family of boys she was as curious then as she is determined now doing the mischievous things most children tend to do at an early age. Attending school locally up until 1992 when she migrated to the U.S to start a new life in the sunshine state of Miami Florida Etana was a budding achiever; she finished grade school and eventually went off to college the year after with plans of becoming a Registered Nurse. During her studies at Broward Community College Etana became extremely passionate about music, she was consumed with the joy of creating her own mix of the different genres she would attentively listen to in her earlier years. A hardened fan of Reggae, Pop, Hip Hop and Jazz Musicians she found inspiration in Whitney Houston, Lauren Hill, Jill Scott, Sizzla Kalongi, Marcia Griffiths and the legend Bob Marley all of who eventually gave the then academic the will to explore a new and potentially more suited career in Music.

In 2000 after making a tuff decision to prematurely exit college Etana attempted a shot at stardom when she joined a girl group by the name "GIFT" which was being courted by Universal Records. Instead, the young artist wanted to send a different message and portray a more eloquent look and this opportunity came in 2005 when a friend brought her to Fifth Element who at the time was prospering from the strength of Richie Spice who was heavily booked for several American and European Tours. Auditioning for a shot at becoming the backup vocalist for Spice Etana vocally floored his management team and was handed a plane ticket to do a few shows in the U.S.

The ensuing fifteen months followed with the now permanent songstress soaking up valued experience as a stage performer with performance credits in Europe and North America. Eager to make her own mark Etana boldly attempted a hit single one day while chilling with the guitar player and Percussionist from Richie Spice's band. The idea had been floating in her thoughts for weeks and like magic the melody for her debut smash single "Wrong Address" was born. Simple yet effective the single was a fusion of Jazz and Reggae, it was the first of its kind and in 2006 the song was rewarded with heavy radio rotations plunging it in the number 1 position of several local charts. Her second major hit Roots was an intriguing mix of African and reggae cultural sounds fused with Jamaican Creole. Video's for both songs helped bring Etana to the forefront of Reggae and during the summer and winter of 2007 she made her mark as a solo artist performing on international events like Reggae Sumfest, Fully Loaded and ATI Live.

On June 17th Etana made history by releasing her debut album “The Strong One” which won the coveted “Album Of The Year” Award at the 2009 EME Awards. As 2008 came to an end Etana continued to shine with big time performances at the Olympic Grand Gala for the Jamaican Beijing Athletes in October and the exclusive Reggaelution Concert in early December not to mention a one month U.S tour for the month of November. Currently promoting her new singles "Caltariba System", “Free” and "Blessings (ft. Alborosie)" Etana is boldly taking on the world of music with the help of her management team at Solid Agency.