ENRIQUE TURNS IT UP WITH DANCEHALL FLAVOR!

BY KEVIN JACKSON
Observer writer

A DANCEHALL remix of Latin singer Enrique Iglesias’s Billboard hit Subeme La Radio (Turn Up the Radio) was released by Sony Music Latin division on Saturday. Iglesias is the son of Spanish singer Julio Iglesisas. A lyric video for the song was uploaded to the singer’s VEVO page and had racked up over 230,000 views up to yesterday.

Grammy-winning Jamaican producer Tony “CD” Kelly worked on the remix.

He shared with the Jamaica Observer how he got involved in the project.

“Rodney Hill mentioned it to me and offered me the opportunity to do a dancehall remix for it. And, I like the song’s flow, the melody and the swag,” said Kelly.

Hill, who is also Jamaican and a Grammy-nominated A&R and producer, explained why Kelly was selected for the project.

“Executives from Sony Music contacted me and asked if I could sort out and A&R five remixes for the song. I felt like we needed a dancehall version and something which could resonate worldwide. And Tony Kelly is great at producing that sound,” Hill told Observer.

He said the Sony executives gave the project thumbs up.

“When they heard the remix, they all loved it,” Hill added.

Kelly has an impressive track record. He scored numerous hit rhythms over the years under his K-Licious label, including Buy Out, Kiki, Underwater, Bookshelf, Grindin, and Doctor.

International Billboard charting hits he produced include Patra’s Worker Man; Girl (Beenie Man featuring Akon); Everyone Falls in Love (Tanto Metro and Devonte); Dancehall Queen (Beenie Man and Chevelle Franklin); and Like Glue (Sean Paul).

Additionally, he has worked on Grammy-winning songs and albums from Shaggy, Sean Paul, Bebe and Cece Winans, and Beenie Man, among others.

Over the past year Kelly has racked up credits on songs containing samples of his works. They include Tory Lanez’s Luv which samples Tanto Metro and Devonte’s Everyone Falls in Love; Zara Larsson’s I Would Like and Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez’s Sexy Body, both of which sample Sasha’s Dat Sexy Body, which he produced in the late 1990s.

Iglesias’s Subeme La Radio is the first single from his forthcoming Spanish album for Sony Music. The original version, which also features Puerto Rican duo Zion and Lennox, and Cuban singer Descemer Bueno, reached number two on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart and number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It has been certified 2 x platinum in both Spain and Italy.