One of my favorite songs for Trini C2k8 was "Not inna Dat" with Jadee, you can listen to it yourself in
my mixtape.
Check it here. Track number 28.
Jadee also got a video out from his album "Altar Call":
Jadee - RecruitAnd he was also featured in Trinidads newspaper The Guardian, From the pitt to the pulpit, read it here:
"I let my family down and Ijust wanted people to feel sorry for me. I felt really ashamed. I wanted to take a teaspoon of Gramoxone , not to kill myself really, just to end up in the hospital. That was the devil's pln for my life. He wanted me dead" BY CHERISSE MOE He’s happily married to his longtime girlfriend, has a three-year-old daughter—Skyla—and travels the world preaching God’s word through music. His story is a perfect example of good overcoming evil.
Jadee Sellier, 31, a down-to-earth Arima resident was no stranger to the music industry before his foray into the gospel arena. In fact, to many he is a household name.
But there was a time when Sellier was not on the straight and narrow path. His salvation came in the form of music.
When he was just 16 years old, he started doing jingles for the 98.9FM radio station and met some very influential people in the music industry. His first real taste of success, though, came when he toured with local songstress Sharlene Boodram, who at the time had an international hit on her hands with Joe Le Taxi.
“I went on tour with Sharlene when Mr Vibe (the male vocalist on the song) couldn’t make it,” Jadee recalled. I performed the song in Martinique and in T&T for Carnival. The exposure was really good,” he said.
Opportunity came knocking again when he met promoter Chinese Laundry. Sellier, along with other upcoming soca artistes, was later signed to Laundry’s record label Link-Up Productions.
In 2002, now a somewhat experienced soca artiste, Sellier came out with his first soca single—Aye Yo—a popular hit during that Carnival season.
“That song was responsible for taking me all up the Caribbean, Canada and New York. I was enjoying myself, that was what I thought was the best time of my life,” Sellier related.
But, success came with what many may consider the perks of the industry—money, women, alcohol and drugs (marijuana). Sellier said: “I was doing all the things that often come with the music business. I was walking in the clubs with 15 people and it felt great.”
However, little did he know at the time that things would take a turn for the worse.
The tides begin to turn
Sellier soon found himself indulging in some illicit activities; even becoming involved in orgies—“you know, the works,” he said.
Thankfully, his life changed when his longtime girlfriend, who is a Christian, learned of his crazy rendezvous.
However, it took his family finding out about his “secret life” before he changed his lifestyle.
“I let my family down and I just wanted people to feel sorry for me. I felt really ashamed. I wanted to take a teaspoon of gramoxone, not to kill myself really, just to end up in the hospital,” he said. “That was the devil’s plan for my life, he wanted me dead.”
A broken Sellier confided in his older sister Jabie, who is also a Christian. She showed him Romans 7:14, which reads: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
“I took comfort in this,” Sellier said.
Sellier eventually agreed to go to a worship session at a church in Arima, after much persistence from Jabie.
After listening to the pastor’s sermon, Sellier was beginning to have a change of heart.
With touring and music his bread and butter, he could only attend church whenever he had time and time was a scarce commodity. “Soon I started feeling guilty doing the things I was doing. I felt a heavy conviction. realising I needed to get out of sin, I gave my life to Christ.”
That was April 2001, and Jadee Sellier has never turned back since.
Singing a different tune
Sellier now sings soca gospel and has three albums under his belt.
He has even won several awards including the Best Gospel Artiste in 2005 and 2006, and a Cott Award for Best Male Gospel Singer in 2005 and 2006.
A video for his new single—Not Inah Dat—has just been released on TV. Sellier is also currently working on his new album, entitled Get Back on Track, scheduled to hit stores in August.
With big dreams for the future, what he wants most is to continue serving God and opening doors for upcoming gospel artistes.
Vowing to continue serving God, Sellier said, quoting a scripture from the Bible: “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?”
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