Local music artiste Jeroam Des Vignes wants to do it all, he wants to do it big, and he’s prepared to put in the work to reach his goals.
What began as posting comedic videos on YouTube became the start of his music career and now Des Vignes is expected to release his third single, Replace Me, in February.
He told Sunday Newsday Replace Me is a song everyone can relate to as it’s about letting your significant other know you cannot be replaced because each person is unique.
It is also the first full song he wrote solo.
Des Vignes, 20, started singing in church with his mother around age seven. Outside of church, the melodies of R&B songs grabbed his attention. So much so that in his spare time he would write his own lyrics to the melodies and create new songs.
“I developed a genuine love for music. I get a deeper feeling when I listen to music. I respond to it emotionally. Some people might listen to music and just vibes to it but I feel like it tells stories and takes me places.”
[caption id="attachment_937123" align="alignnone" width="683"] Jeroam Des Vignes releases his third single Replace Me in February. - Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]
His parents noticed his passion, so his mother paid for vocal training and lessons for different instruments including drums and piano. He performed in church and theatre, and gained a deeper love for music as he acquired new perspectives on it.
As he got older, he shifted his interest from music to comedy. He said people would tell him he was witty or “kicksy” so, when he was 17, he started making videos for YouTube.
At one point he posted a video in which he sang with two friends and it was shared widely on social media and blogs.
“I always had love for music but it was personal. I never used to share it with others. If I’m being real it could also have been fear of people not liking it. But in the back of my mind I knew, at some point in time, I would reach that bridge where I would have to make the decision to do it or not.
“So people didn’t even know I could sing, so they didn’t understand where this side of Jeroam come out from because I never showed it.”
Then, in early 2020, in response to a post on Instagram, he created a meme in which he sang a song he wrote called Maybe, Maybe Not.
“I made the video out of kicks and it went viral. I was getting tagged and my followers increased tremendously. I think one of the reasons people started to blow it up was because I did it on a very well-known dancehall riddim. Even my parents who aren’t often on social media came back and showed me that their colleagues were talking about it at work.”
Because of the response he started doing more memes combining singing and comedy as well as reactions and challenges. They too were well-received, and his followers kept asking him to do more, which he did.
Around that time the country went into its first lockdown. For him, it was a time for introspection.
“I said to myself, ‘Jeroam you really love music.’ So, I took the faith that, even though not eve
