Ce'cile (also spelled Cécile, born Cecile Claudine Charlton on 24 February 1974 in

Manchester Parish The Parish of Manchester () is a Parishes of Jamaica, parish located in west-central Jamaica, in the county of Middlesex. Its Capital (political), capital, Mandeville, Jamaica, Mandeville, is a major business centre. Its St. Paul of the Cross ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

), is a Jamaican

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

in the

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

genre.

Biography

Ce'cile grew up in Porus, and Mile Gully,

, spending most of her youth in Mandeville, where her grandfather had previously been

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. Ce' Cile discovered music through a friend of her father, Michael "Ibo" Cooper from the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

band

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

and brought out her first single "Beat of Her Heart". She added her own style to classical reggae and took it toward dancehall. In 1995, Steven Ventura, the owner of Celestial Sound Recordings, noticed her. Then followed a period where she worked as a studio manager and recorded multiple demo tapes. She also appeared on stage as a

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

for various bands, as well as writing and producing songs with artists such as

Jah Mason Andre Johnson (born 29 December 1970), better known by his stage name Jah Mason, also known as Fire Mason, is a reggae singer/deejay from Jamaica, active as a recording artist since 1991. Biography Jah Mason was born in Jamaica's Manchester Pari ...

& Chrisinti. Her first major success was with the single "Can You Do the Work" with

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

in 2001. This track later appeared on his album ''

Dutty Rock ''Dutty Rock'' ( West Indian patois for "dirty rock") is the second studio album by Jamaican dancehall musician Sean Paul. Released on 12 November 2002, it features four top 15 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits, " Gimme the Light", " Get Busy", " L ...

'' (Atlantic Records), which went on to sell over two million copies in the United States, also winning a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. In 2003, she signed with Delicious Vinyl Records, but she was not given the chance to release an album. Instead, she released singles in cooperation with other artists. In 2005 she left the label and toured with T.O.K. in Europe. Her first album, ''Bad Gyal'', was released in 2008 with Kingstone Records, and was the first dancehall album that was ever discussed in the German ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''. Next to the article was a large print promotion photo of Cécile, but she did not appear as a

Playmate A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playm ...

. In 2009 her second album ''Waiting'' was released with Danger Zone/SoBe Entertainment. Today Cécile is known internationally. Her albums sell well in Germany and Japan amongst others. She appears as guest singer on singles from Sean Paul, Carl Henry, Mono & Nikitaman,

DJ Fresh Daniel Edward Stein (born 11 April 1977), known professionally as DJ Fresh, is an English DJ and record producer. He is one of the principal members of the drum and bass group Bad Company, alongside Darren White ( dBridge), Jason Maldini and M ...

Doctor P Doctor P is the stage name of the English dubstep producer and DJ, Shaun Brockhurst (born 9 April 1986). Brockhurst has also produced drum and bass under the aliases Sounds Destructive (with Zachary Kemp, currently known as Trolley Snatcha), ...

, and

D-Flame Daniel Kretschmer (born 19 September 1971), better known by his stage-name D-Flame, is a German hip hop and reggae musician. He was also previously part of the hip hop formation Asiatic Warriors. Discography Albums * 2000 - ''Basstard'' * 20 ...

. Her single " Gold Dust" with

peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, with a Shy FX re-edit that reached number 22 in the UK and number 39 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. The sale of all versions of "Gold Dust" are combined enabling it to have sold in excess of 1,800,000 copies, receiving a triple Platinum certification by the BPI, despite not reaching the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart.

Personal life

She had a child in 2012 with her then boyfriend, recording artist Christopher Martin.

Discography

* 2008: ''Goody'' * 2008: ''Bad Gyal'' (Kingstone Records) * 2009: ''Waiting'' (Danger Zone/SoBe Entertainment) * 2009: ''Worth It'' * 2011: ''Jamaicanization'' * 2014: ''Still Running'' * 2016: ''Diary of a Journey'' * 2019: ''Music + Magic'' * 2021: ''Sophisticated''Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/album/5gHK4A9njbTZuRGOaIqNky

References

External links

*
Portrait
from Daintycrew 2001.
Interview mit dem Big Up! Magazin (Audio im podcast)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecile 21st-century Jamaican women singers Dancehall singers 1977 births Living people People from Mandeville, Jamaica Musicians from Manchester Parish