Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

At only 18 years old, Guyanese songstress Timeka Marshall has already begun to create a buzz in the Caribbean.

With sex appeal, a bubbly personality, a smooth voice and a smash single, We Must Separate, Marshall has the right package to hit big internationally. We Must Separate is produced by Muzikmedia out of Guyana; the video was shot entirely in Jamaica, where Timeka was recently featured on Hype TV.

The Sunday Gleaner caught up with the songtress while she was in the island doing voice training with Jamaican Georgia Schlepper, and she also worked with producer Don Corleone.

A newcomer to the music business, Timken is already a star back in Guyana. However, her career so far has been very short. "I started back home a couple of months ago when this company was having a jingle competition I took part and came in first. From then I got involved in singing. I recorded a song, We Should Separate, which was well received back home. The song has a strong R&B flavour," she said.

Versatile

While she has many musical influences, she is still trying to find her own style. Currently she identifies with Jamaican songstress, Alaine, who, she says, has a similar style. "Jamaica is known for reggae music, Trinidad is known for soca, but Guyana doesn't have an identity of its own. We listen to everything, from country, pop, rock to reggae. I consider myself to be very versatile; I try to mix my stuff. I try to incorporate different genres of music into my stuff, so I can't really give a name to my music," she said.

So far, while in Jamaica, Timeka has worked on more tracks for her upcoming album, to be released next month. She is also gearing to shoot her next video for the single, Nothing At All, with director Jay Will.

According to Timeka's manager, Kerwin Bollers, the young starlet has begun to catch the eye of various international producers. While a now seasoned performer in Guyana, outside of that Timeka is still trying to spread her wings in the Caribbean, something which she partly accomplished at the Barbados Music Seminar, held in February of this year. Timeka proved herself a skilled artiste, as she showcased her talents to what she describes as a receptive crowd.

Plans for the future

For the future, she said the world could "expect anything. I'm looking forward to being a household name, I want to get the eyes of the international world".

While Guyana has some success with the outstanding Eddy Grant, with Natural Black and First Born earning some reggae popularity, Timeka wishes to be the next person from Guyana to really turn heads. "We haven't had a major impact recently. I want to be that person. I haven't been singing for years, but I've already achieved so much," she said.

She is also proud of the achievements of countless other Caribbean entertainers such as Sean Paul, Shaggy and Rhianna, among others. "Everyone is looking to the Caribbean more than ever before. They are always looking for a new sound; we have a lot of that. This is the time everyone should pull up the gears and put out the best of our abilities," she said.