Macka Diamond - file

Moving into a new phase of her life as an artiste and businesswoman, a more mature Macka Diamond is planning to release her clothing line entitled 'MackaJam.'

With the release of the first dancehall novel, Bun Him in September 2007, Macka Diamond showed the world that she was more than just a 'money-o' female artiste. Presently the artiste has taken the time out of her busy schedule to release her own clothing line which will be premiered at Pulse's Caribbean Fashionweek in summer of 2009.

Named after herself and her son Jamalio, MackaJam will be designed by Macka and famed dancehall designer Earl 'Biggy' Turner.

The artiste told the STAR about her idea. "It's kinda from my love for fashion. It was one of my first ideas, but I did other things to be more different so now it's the right time. People really expect it from Macka, I usually design stuff for my shows and people always want to know where they can get it. I'm working on it to be very big."

With Biggy at the helm MackaJam could be the next big dancehall label with outfits for both men and women. This is not the first collaboration between Macka Diamond and Biggy, as the designer has outfitted the artiste on numerous occasions, including events such as Sumfest and Fully Loaded.

Major influence

While the dancehall is a major influence, according to Macka, the line will appeal to persons on all levels.

"It will be a touch of everything, casual wear, T-shirts, dancehall party outfits, elegant stuff that's not so loud, with a lot of earth colours and yuh done know seh is Macka so there will be a lot of bling," Macka said.

MackaJam is not the first clothing line released by a dancehall artiste. The line follows the trend set by General Degree with 'Rehgeh' and 'Gully wear' from Mavado. According to Macka however, she is expecting success with her line which is more than just casual wear. As of next year, MackaJam T-shirts and other causal wear will be made available in stores in large quantities, but the more party outfits, Macka says, will be in limited numbers to give those looks more exclusivity.

Follow-up

The dancehall deejay seems to have a lot on her plate. She recently re-released her Bun Him novel, with a new cover and insider comments. The new version will be distributed by VP Records.

Macka is also hoping to, in time, release a follow-up to the successful novel and is looking forward to her birthday bash on January 10. She is also booked for shows in Europe and Israel before returning to attend carnival in Trinidad in February.

Musically the artiste is hoping to take a 'calmer' approach and explore slower styles of music. Currently, Macka has a number of songs in heavy rotation. These include: Hungry with Don Mafia, Couple Up with Firelinks, Robbery and Tight Like a Knot.