Before becoming Queen Omega, the globally renowned dancehall reggae queen she is today, Jeneile Osborne lived with her family in San Fernando, a small city in Trinidad and Tobago. From a young age, she displayed extraordinary musical talent, laying the foundation for her future success.
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03-06, 2025At the age of nine, she made her stage debut, and the natural power and beauty of her voice immediately captivated her family and the local community. As she said, "My mother always told me that my voice was a gift. She always said I was a special child because I was her only daughter. She said she prayed for me to have a gift, and my voice was that gift." Her mother's encouragement and expectations became the driving force on her musical path.
Queenie recalls that her mother always warned her that having a gift meant having a responsibility to sing good music, to sing for God, and to convey positive messages, otherwise the gift might be taken away. She kept her mother's teachings in mind and put them into practice. Her hometown is the birthplace of soca music, a variation of traditional calypso music that originated in the 1970s, so she initially started with this music, singing backing vocals for local bands.
"But then I developed a strong interest in dancehall reggae music," she explained, referring to the offshoot of reggae music, and eventually found her musical home. "I started to blend soca with dancehall reggae and started doing my own thing. Reggae music provided me with a platform to sing the kind of music my mother always told me about." When she sings reggae music, Queen Omega feels like she has found her belonging. "It feels like home," she said. "I feel like I'm really in my comfort zone, and I just want to be able to perfect this craft. I'm different, I stand out."
Not everyone agreed with her choice. While her hometown has a rich musical tradition, her embrace of a neighboring country's style raised questions from some. This would be the first of many moments where she had to follow her heart and block out the noise around her. "Everyone said, 'Why are you singing reggae? Why not sing soca?' Everyone on the island said, 'This is Jamaican music.' But I said, 'This is my path, this is me. This is what I was born to do. This is me forging my own path.'" She added, "It's different, I stand out, and I embrace that. Because I've always liked being different. I've always been different."
Queenie has demonstrated amazing creativity from the very beginning. In the first decade of her recording career, she released six albums and collaborated on singles with artists such as the legendary Gregory Isaacs and German reggae superstar Gentleman. "I knew I had to keep creating music, no matter what," she said of her extensive body of work. "I realized that the more music I created, the more listeners I reached. My fan base kept growing, which gave me even more opportunities to create music, because then I was heard by other producers and artists who wanted to collaborate with me."
The most obvious and practical benefit of collaboration is that artists are introduced to new audiences through the implicit endorsement of their recording partners. But the path of music can be lonely, and another benefit is simply knowing that someone is on your side. "It gave me a chance to blend with other artists, which gave me a chance to reach another [audience], because sometimes you know you've been in this industry for a long time, but there are still people who don't know who Queen Omega is or my music," she said. "When I do collaborations, it's a blessing because I can tap into an audience and have another teammate."
A powerful chemistry was created when Queenie collaborated with Swedish producer Little Lion Sound (real name Nicolas Meury). While she had already earned a reputation as one of the most powerful voices in modern dancehall reggae in the first 20 years of her career, everything was greatly enhanced with the release of "No Love Dubplate" produced by Meury. "Dubplate" is a customized version of a song, different from its original recorded form, historically played at reggae sound system parties, and increasingly popular online. "No Love" is a highlight of Queenie's 2023 album "Freedom Legacy," while the "Dubplate" version showcases her breathtaking talent.
To the accompaniment of Dr. Dre's iconic 1999 anthem "The Next Episode," she sang the vocals of her song with precision and power. The power of her voice and the fire in her delivery make it impossible to look away. It's easy to understand how it has garnered hundreds of millions of views on YouTube and social media. "It felt natural," she said of the song's huge success, her bright smile masking any false modesty she might have been trying to show. "It just gave me the inspiration to keep doing good work. You never know when you're going to get that special song that can touch the world." "I think this dubplate did that, it really touched the world, and I feel very humbled and grateful."
Following the success of "No Love" came "Three The Hard Way," a deep and dub-filled song produced by French group Irie Ites, and featuring vocals from dancehall reggae masters Chezidek and U Brown. "My heart is filled with a high level of gratitude, and seeing people love it so much is a pure and raw inspiration to me. It's like a push, an encouragement, to keep trying to create more hits like this."
As Queen Omega enjoys the greatest success of her career on the quarter-century mark, she has every reason to reflect on all that she has achieved. "When I see the young Queenie, I really feel proud," she said. "I'm proud of her for never giving up, never listening to the naysayers. She kept moving forward." She intends to keep moving forward as much as possible. "I'm just grateful to have the health and strength to be here doing what I'm doing now, because a lot of legends have passed away, and my time will come," she said. "So now that I have this strength and ability, while I'm young, I'm going to do it."
At just 43 years old, she is still in great physical shape. More importantly, Queenie is also in a good mental state. "This is my life. That passion never goes out. I feel it even stronger now because I've touched so many people." She said, "I feel compelled. It's like I have no choice. It's like there's a spirit or energy pushing me to do this. People need it. They need that music. It's food for the soul, food for the spirit. That's why I think I feel that drive to do it." "All I have to do is keep delivering, keep that frequency high, so I can keep creating that feel-good music. People say my music makes them feel good. So, I'm happy to be able to make people feel good."
Queen Omega will be performing at the WOMADelaide festival this weekend, and in Sydney and Melbourne next week.
