Jahmoun Mendoza: ‘Only You’ evokes emotion

Jahmoun told Sunday Newsday the song, “Only You”, was one that evoked emotions from listeners, and that it was a great way to let people see that he could do different types of music and actually sing.

Written by Mical Teja and produced by MadMen Productions, “Only You” is a song that can resonate with many. “Only You can mean anything. If you’re not feeling yourself lately, you’re down or want to give up, only music, only your best friend, only God... can take you out of that mood. It’s open for interpretation so it could mean different things to different people,” he said.

Jahmoun added that the chorus stated that no one knows what tomorrow may bring so it encouraged everyone to ‘jump up as if it’s their last time.’ “The song is now getting popular because people are now listening to the song properly and understanding what it says. One person said he thought it was a gospel. It is an emotional song and people could connect to it because of things that happen to them in their lives,” he said.

Jahmoun would be performing in position 11 in the semi finals of the 2017 International Soca Monarch competition to be held at the Arima Velodrome on February 5.

He said while he was excited about getting into the semis, it was not the same excitement he felt when he placed for the first time in 2011. Then, he even made it to the finals with his first soca song, and the first song he ever wrote, Digital Bumper.

This time, he said, the excitement was for the exposure, rather than the competition. He said he looked at it as a platform to get his name and his music out internationally, and a way for the world to see the talent in Trinidad and Tobago.

Jahmoun’s soca career began in 2011 after his good friend, Ronnie McIntosh, encouraged him to start singing.

Previously, the radio announcer from Cocorite would play around, singing the songs of other artistes while on the air. This led to a number of opportunities to sing soca music, but Jahmoun was not ready at the time.

It was in 2010, when McIntosh told Jahmoun it was time to get serious and to ‘try his own thing.’ “I actually took what he said to heart. I went home and started to write whatever came to my head, which ended up being ‘Digital Bumper’,” he said.

Joel Feveck, aka Zan, helped him make some adjustments to the lyrics and Johann Seaton of MadMen Productions produced the song, which made it to the 2011 Soca Monarch finals.

He noted that, while “Digital Bumper” was successful, being in the radio business did not help his soca career. “If you’re working at a radio station and the song isn’t good or it doesn’t resonate with people, they’re not going to play it. You’re not going to get the love that you expect just because you are in the radio fraternity,” he stressed.

However, Jamoun said he had the patience to wait for his next hit, which would come at the right time for him.

In the mean time, he would like to continue singing more meaningful, more melodious songs in addition to collaborating with others to write.