Tega - Contributed

There is a rising new voice in dancehall and it belongs to Tega.

'Tega, never heard of her,' many might be saying just about now, but that could all change in the coming months.

Tega, 28, who was born Renata Thomas in Spanish Town, St Catherine, is hoping her upcoming single Out Like This will be the vehicle on which she rides triumphant into the psyche of local dancehall fans.

Tega migrated to the United States as a child and honed her talents singing on gospel choirs in her church.

"When I was a little girl my grandmother would take my sister and I to church," she recalls. "I would watch the choir sing and I would sing along and I enjoyed it. Later on when I got a little older my grandmother passed, but I continued to go to church while I was in New York. I attended my aunt's church and I would always get up and sing a solo during testimony service. One Sunday the choir director asked me if would I like to sing on the youth choir and I said 'of course I would' and that's where it all started."

'Tega' from a little boy

She got her stage name from the son of a friend. "I got the name 'Tega' from a little boy. His mom is a friend of mine, he couldn't pronounce my name correctly so he would call me Tega instead," she said. "I thought it was pretty cool so I kept it."

At 13, Tega joined a gospel group called 'Mae Sellers' and the 'Inspirational Gospel Singers' and performed all over the United States.

But for all her performing as a member of gospel choirs, Tega's heart always belonged to the dancehall.

"To be honest I have always loved reggae/ dancehall music. As a teenager I would sneak out of the house to go to dances in the area where I lived. I use to buy tons of CD's full of dancehall music and sit in my room and write songs off the rhythms," she said.

She got her break quite by chance and through a relative. "I have a cousin who plays on a sound," she says. "He was playing out one day and I decided to touch the mic. When I saw the kind of feedback I got, I said 'hey, reggae-dancehall is where I belong'. That prompted me to do more promotion for myself. I would go to all the local reggae shows with my demos and ask the promoters to listen to my music for a spot on the show. That's basically how I started getting myself on shows."

Learning the craft

Since then Tega has performed on several stage shows, learning the craft and getting her name out as a player in the dancehall industry. The high point of her career to date was when she performed with Buju Banton six years ago. She described the moment as 'ecstatic'. She has also shared stages with legends like Marcia Griffiths, Mr Vegas and Luciano.

Out Like This is the third single following the release of the marginally successful Ever Again and More and More in 2003. This latest single she says is inspired by developments in her life emanating from the darker side of the entertainment business.

"Well, the song really speaks for itself. I got fed up of certain person in the business calling my name," she said.

"This person would be the last person I would think that would talk about me. There were some things that were said about me in the past which were all lies and really if I did not do this song I would have never known how these people really feel about me. It's all jealousy. In this business everyone wants to be on top even if they have to cut throats to get there."

Tega has plans to shoot a music video in Jamaica sometime soon, but for the time being she continues to work hard, hoping that it pays off and she realises her dream of becoming a major star in her favourite genre in her home country.