Deablo
Biko Kennedy, Youthlink Writer

"Judging a person based on physical appearance certainly doesn't determine who he/she is but it defines the person who you are," clarified Deablo on people's misconceptions about him. With his musical career steadily spreading its roots, his charisma assures us that he more than deserves his place among the pantheon of new acts in dancehall.

Given name: Romeo Nelson

Stage name: Deablo

Meaning behind name: As a troublemaker, he received the name from a girl in primary school. The name was initially meant to be 'likkle devil', prior to learning that devil in Spanish is el diablo. Finding it fitting to his persona to some extent, the word grew on him and he gave the original spelling a Jamaican twist.

Notable releases: Real Bad People, In Deh, Headline, Haterz

Accomplishments: He has numerous singles in rotation on the airwaves, and has made multiple guest appearances on a variety of stage shows, locally and internationally, the most memorable of which was a performance in St Vincent which resulted in echoing shouts for an encore across the venue.

The influence St George's College has had on him:

"If it wasn't music I'd be doing law, because that was and is still my aim in life, and I'm gonna complete it as soon as my musical career set a certain way. I really don't like setting certain goals then just giving up on them. It's like losing a battle."

How he made his break into the J.O.P camp:

"From 2006, when (St) George's was like a hit factory with persons like me, Sho Kryme, ZJ Wah Wa all in the same class. The link, though, was set through a friend name Kemar Malcolm. A him did carry me to Di Di (Aidonia) and we met at a barbeque at which I performed and him seh the performance was well put together and he's assembling a group of young artistes and he would want me in the bunch. Suh, after school mi just link up wid him (Aidonia) in my uniform and here I am now. It started from I was in fourth form, then in fifth form I released a track titled Headline. A dat time all hell bruk loose; girls started lining up out George's fi meet me, and mi start run on during socials in my uniform and the star life started from deh suh straight into music, into the industry."

Why his lyrical content is perceived as gritty:

"Wi nah guh deejay nuh lie. Mi buil' song off experience that me and ma friends guh through.

I can relate to more things that we actually go through than to fabricate certain things that I don't know anything about. I can talk about the girls and the ghetto life and my lifestyle and my friends' lifestyle. Most persons say that I'm all negative and that's probably because of my lyrical content at times, but it's just the life that I live that I deejay about. If you don't want to hear that you can always buy a Beres Hammond or a Luciano; it's my life and lifestyle and I'm not 100 per cent negative cause, of course, there's a good side to Deablo (laughs)."

How personal failures impacts his career:

My single greatest moment of personal failure came out of thinking I would buss in the industry as mi lef high school [but] wha nuh kill yuh, buil' yuh. It definitely made me stronger cause at that time I really wasn't ready for what the industry had to offer, but I wouldn't have known that until everything happened. Now I know what everything is all about and making the best of it.