Teejay Finds His Own Lane At Warner Music

Jamaican artist Teejay has signed with Warner Music Group, in a deal that was described as “Dancehall’s biggest for the year.”

“Me Feel Good… a music we a duh from long time and me hard work is finally paying off!! dis is just the start!!… Drift… a suh we F+@K up in yah!!” the Owna Lane deejay said in a release sent to DancehallMag.

Details of the arrangement, which was signed in Manhattan, were not provided, but the release suggests that it is a publishing deal.

Teejay, in an Instagram post, credited the deal to his latest hit Drift, released in April.

Guy Moot, Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Chappell Music (WCM), the publishing arm of Warner Music Group, said he was happy to see Dancehall music and another Jamaican artist on the global rise.

“It’s the right artist with the right music and the right time,” the release noted.

“With a major deal like this one and Warner Music machinery behind him, the artiste’s music will be exposed to sync rights, gaming, and sky is the limit.”

According to the release, Moot has worked with Steely & Clevie, Stefflon Don and has been integral in Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor’s career.

Solid Agency’s Sharon Burke, who took over management of Teejay in 2021, after his exit from Romeich Entertainment, said the deal was only two weeks in the making after sifting through myriad offers and finally “feeling at home with Warner.”

“TeeJay will do well because he is a good artiste who is committed to the music and the journey to the top,” Burke said.

TeeJay, whose real name is Timoy Jones, emerged on the Dancehall scene in 2009 with the single Starlight. 

In 2012, he released tracks such as My Life, Summer Time, Living My Life and Move From Deh.   During that period, Teejay joined forces with Ryme Minista and other Montego Bay artists where they started a music ensemble, for which he did the studio engineering work, on songs such as Rhyme Minista’s Killaz and Killaz.

Following his performance at Reggae Sumfest in 2018, Teejay caught Romeich Major’s eye and later joined the entertainment management family with Ding Dong and Shenseea as stablemates.

TeeJay started his own label, Top Braff Music, in 2019, and is best known for his songs From Rags To Riches, Unfaithful Games, Owna Lane, Henne & Weed, Uptop Boss, Up Top, People, and most recently Drift.

In August 2021, the Rags to Riches singer said the move to Solid Agency was motivated by an inclination to progress his career after feeling stagnant for some time.  He added that he felt the focus was not on him, but more so on other artists in the Romeich Entertainment camp.

Teejay, however, wanted to make it clear that Romeich did, in fact, help his career.

“Honestly, one thing mi haffi say one hundred percent, mi always a go respect Romeich Entertainment .. because him see the ting [eventhough] mi did already a tour, mi did already a go places … but it just neva structured the proper way and mi respect Romeich Entertainment fi say Teejay, ‘mi cant sign you as an artist but make we structure the ting’ so mi a go always respect you dawg one hundred percent,” he said at the time.

Last month, he announced an upcoming EP, I Am Chippy, an eight-track project to be released by Ranch Entertainment and VP Records.

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