Though the Reggae/Dancehall industry is dominated by men, Karamanti stands as a strong black woman, (in her home town of Kingston, Jamaica) raining showers of conscious
lyrics to a generation far from reality.
Karamanti has been creating music
since she was eight years old. Falling in love first with rap (or hip-hop), then
embracing Dancehall and now passionate about Reggae. In spite of the fact that she
has been making music for most of her life, she only began to pursue it as a
career in 2011. Currently regarded by many as one of Jamaica's best female
lyricist, Karamanti writes her own
songs and operates her own record company; Blakkwuman22 Music.
Industry insiders began paying attention to her when she released the single “don’t it,” produced by Red Boom in 2012.
The track exposed her to a hardcore Dancehall audience that was eager to hear
more from the self acclaimed Pan-Africanist. Karamanti spent the summer of 2012 engaged in a nationwide media
tour which had her performing, and/or being interviewed on most of the major
entertainment radio and TV programs in Jamaica. That was followed by a Canadian
tour which featured performances on big events such as the Montreal Reggae
Festival and the Toronto Rasta Festival.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since she officially stepped out on the scene in 2012, Karamanti has been consistent in releasing
songs which focuses primarily on social and political issues. She has done
several music videos and live performances both in Jamaica and overseas.
Karamanti's voice can be heard on some of the biggest Reggae and
Dancehall rhythms coming out of Jamaica: Heights Riddim (“Gye Nyame”), Rock Island Riddim (“Fake Rasta”), Life Triangle Riddim (“Hold On”), Reggae Land Riddim (“Domestic
Abuse”), Love Bounce Riddim (“Da One Ya Fi”)
and that is just to name a few. She has also enjoyed success with singles like
“Read,” which was produced by Denmark’s
#1 Dancehall artist/producer, Pharfar. The song got heavy radio rotation and climbed to the #1 spot on the Top Ten
Conscious Chart which airs on Jamaica’s Roots FM. It sat there for weeks beating
out songs from now popular artist, Chronixx.
Karamanti has collaborated with major Jamaican artists: 3 Starr
(from Mavado’s Gully Squad), veteran Mikey General, Asante Amen and many
others. She has also done recordings with international acts: Iwan, Sonniballi,
Blasto, Lise Ranks, Stonebwoy and several others. In her role as executive
producer, Karamanti, via her record
company, Blakkwuman22 Music has released projects which feature long time
dancehall artist Alozade, iconic star, Lt. Stitchie and a lot more respected
Jamaican artists.
In April 2013, Karamanti
released her first and only studio album entitled Dancehall Retaliates. It was released on her Blakkwuman22 Music
label with production credits going to both Ricardo ‘Red Boom’ Reid and
Shamarie ‘Digital Sham’ Bogle. Karamanti
was nominated as best the female solo artist for 2013 by the Dancehall Industry
Awards (held in the UK). Additionally, one of her videos for the song “Rise” (which is on the album Dancehall Retaliates) was nominated as
best Dancehall video for 2013. To top it off, Reggae France included Dancehall Retaliates in the WINS REGGAE
AWARDS in the category for Dancehall Album of the year for 2013. Here she went
up against two Jamaican heavy weights: Vybz Kartel and Mr. Vegas.
Karamanti has performed all over the world. She has graced stages
in cities like Gothenburg, Stockholm, Hamburg, Prague, Copenhagen, Roskilde,
Aarhus and more in Europe; and Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle,
Bellingham and more in North America; and Dominica Republic and of course, Jamaica
in the Caribbean.
THE BUSINESS WOMAN
Aside from creating and producing music, Karamanti is also the owner and C.E.O
of MJE (Maria Jackson Entertainment: a company that operates as a digital
marketer with an emphasis on promoting music) and MJ Magazine (a magazine that
promotes positive Black music, culture and lifestyle: www.mjmagazine.org). Additionally,
she recently became a member of Jam Link International (a Europe based association
focused on artist bookings and cultural events promotion).
HERE & NOW
Karamanti begins 2016 with a new approach to music. She now creates
songs to comfort and enlighten lost souls, particularly those feeling misplaced
and/or affected by racial discrimination. She arrived at
the decision to take this new approach after meeting and counseling several
persons, while on tour, who felt marginalized because of their race. In
addition to making music to address this issue, Karamanti has also decided to take it a step further by writing a
book on the matter. She began working on the book at the beginning of February
with hopes to have it completed by the end of the year.
OTHER INTERESTS
When she is not busy working in the music industry or
penning new content Karamanti spends
most of her leisure time engaged in her other two passions: reading and exercising.
She is an avid reader who enjoys expanding her knowledge on Religion,
Psychology, History, Politics, Marketing, Finance, Wealth, Spirituality, World
Cultures and a wide range of other topics. Not only does she peruse these
subjects but she sometimes attends seminars and conducts extensive research so
as to acquire as much information on them as possible.
Her love for reading is not to be surpassed by the
pleasure she gets from working out and living a healthy lifestyle. Karamanti has been consistently
training for well over two decades. She jogs and participates in rigorous
exercises for approximately two hours at least six days a week. Karamanti is also a vegetarian who
periodically goes on alkaline based diets.
Persons wanting to work with Karamanti may do so by sending an email to bookings@karamantimusic.com
KARAMANTI ONLINE
Website: www.Karamantimusic.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Karamanti
YouTube: www.youtube.com/KaramantiTV
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/Karamantimusic
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/Karamantimusic