Providing mentorship for the development of local music as well as local artistes has always been at the forefront of Owen (Oyein) Adams’s plan of action. The Lindener, despite being away from Guyana, continues to motivate, mentor and push for the development of local musicians as well as the industry.
Adams, who is known as GTyouthsProductionz, was born at Leonora on the West Coast of Demerara, but moved to the mining town of Linden at an early age. He is the third of four children. He explains that he was a nerd, since he loved Mathematics and anything to do with crunching numbers.
While in Linden, he discovered his passion for football and music. He would spend his days kicking the ball and the nights deejaying popular music with his friends in Kara Kara. Back then Beenie Man, Beres Hammond, Bounty Killa, Sizzla Kalonji, etc, were some of the top artistes. His adoration and love for Beenie Man saw him being given the nickname “Beenie-Man” at age 10. Up to this day, some of his friends still address him by this nickname.
When Owen was 15 years old, he migrated to the USA with his mother and younger brother. This was the beginning of a new journey and though he continued to excel academically and eventually graduated from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Business, he never lost his focus on music.
In his spare time, he would listen to different genres of music and it was during this period that he discovered he had the ability to tell when a song is going to be a big hit, and as he grew older, he’s gotten better at it. As such, he started giving ideas to a local artiste named “Goofy George” on what track he should sing or what kind of song he should sing. Soon after, he started giving the same advice to another upcoming artist “Fojo”, not realising that it was a gift and that what he was doing unknowingly to him was actually called songwriting, those ideas became words and choruses. A few years later, he started working with some of the most talented stalwarts, such as Alaine, Demarco, Ballys, Gaddie G, Little J, Brandon Harding and Diana Chapman just to name a few.
As time progressed, he started producing music, managing and deejaying. Whilst doing all of this, a lot of his friends and family would often tell him to start singing, especially his brother Hayward and good friend Bally. It was not until he heard a track by one of his fellow producers that he decided to take a chance on that particular journey.
One of the unique things about Owen is that he writes what he feels and his struggles in life have motivated him to write and sing “Life Too Short”— his first single. Though it was not the first song he’s recorded, it was the first to be released to the public.
“My style of music … well, it’s a unique style. It’s not fully Dancehall but it’s not Reggae either. I kinda fuse the two and make it one. But sometimes it depends on how I’m feeling. As an artiste, I use most of my life experience in my music to tell my story, but nevertheless, my style is not Jamaican, nor is it Guyanese, it’s just my doing the best music that I can do,” he said.
He said the art of storytelling is what inspired him to continue down this path. His writing started after a friend in college challenged him to pen some lyrics for him and since then he has been telling his story from the dorms.
The 39-year-old said one of the challenges for Guyanese musicians is the lack of support.
“I don’t blame the people because if they don’t hear the music, they can’t support it. I blame the media by that I mean DJs, radios, television stations and any other media outlet that choose not to support the artistes … other than that the artistes are kinda fighting against each other and there’s space for everyone,” he noted, calling for a system of change in the local music industry.
“I just want to say, if support is given the way it’s given to artistes from other country or island by our own people, the music won’t have a limit. That’s all I’m asking for, not just for me, but for every entertainer.”(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
