In 2025, hardcore music listeners might have noticed a unique voice on two of the mainstream’s exciting drops, Zinoleesky’s debut album, Gen Z, and rave-of-the-moment TML Vibez’s A Street Kid’s Diary, which closed out the year on a high. The voice in question was D’Yani, a Jamaican dancehall, reggae, and R&B singer-songwriter whose dexterity on Afropop production had earned him a fair share of acclaim.
Andre ‘D’Yani’ Charanie McCormack had previously featured Ghanaian rapper, Stonebwoy, on Life’s Amazing off his 7-track debut EP, MUSE, released in February 2025. And before that, he appeared on Balloranking’s Ghetto Gospel album in 2023. The Jamaican artist has accrued momentum since he scored a breakout hit with the Jada Kingdom-assisted Feelings (Remix) in 2022. He’d go on to broach international airwaves in 2023 with Live A Little alongside producer XTM.Nation. As his career has progressed, D’Yani has been acknowledged as one of the rising stars of Jamaican dancehall and reggae by publications within and beyond the Caribbean.
Ahead of his debut album, Live Life & Prosper, set to be released on August 21, 2026, D’Yani sat with Culture Custodian for a conversation about his journey so far, connections with Afrobeats and African artists, why more artists and fans need to consider the spirituality of music, building an African fanbase, and the legacy he hopes to leave with this album.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Who is D’Yani?
D’Yani is a singer-songwriter from Spanish Town, Jamaica. Poet. Philanthropist. Artist. I have been doing music since high school, probably for most of my life. It’s my art, my passion, my life. And I love doing what I do. I dabble in R&B, reggae, dancehall, and a bit of Afrobeats. I’m a musician at heart through and through.
You’ve talked about your influences in past interviews, from your mom, grandmom, and current artists. But looking at MUSE and Live Life & Prosper, who would you say are the artists inspiring your art at the moment?
It’s pretty much a melting pot of different versions of reggae music that I have interpreted and experienced. Inspiration-wise, the list goes on, from Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, Alton Ellis, Gregory Isaacs, and current artists like Barry Salmon. The body of reggae music is essentially the inspiration for how the project was created and the vibe was made from songs like Liberty Strait to songs like Blooming. It’s different eclectic songs of different versions of reggae music. A melting pot of reggae music and a cultural melting pot of different feelings of hope, emotion, and love as well.
How did the Afrobeats connection come about?
The Afrobeats connection came through one of my producers called Mari. He’s very connected and networks a lot. He has done a lot in the Nigerian space, and a bit in Ghana. After working with him for a couple of years, he reached out to a couple of artists in these regions, and we made a connection from that time. We did a lot of work with artists from Nigeria, cross-collaborations, which has done a lot for me because I have seen a lot of supporters from Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana as well.
Obviously, the boom of Afrobeats also influenced me a lot in the space of creating music. That’s how the connection was essentially made and with MUSE, I had some of the themes of Afrobeats included. I did a feature with Stonebwoy (Life’s Amazing) on that project as well. So big up Stonebwoy.
You hinted at the album early last year. What was the process of creating it like?
The process was natural. That’s the best way I can put it. It was very natural. There was nothing forced. The music was created in a timely manner and it came from an honest and very real place. When XTM.Nation and I were making the music, we just had ideas and an intention of how we wanted the music to go.
As an artist, this is almost new territory for me in terms of the audience. But I have always been a fan of reggae music, the culture, and an ambassador of the culture itself. It’s not my first time doing reggae music, but it’s my first time doing a project in this manner. Massive respect to all the producers and the instrumentalists involved in the process. Most praise goes to the Most High as well.
Was the majority of the album created last year? You’re a poet as well, and a lot of your music comes from poetry, so do you have songs like that on the project?
Definitely. The majority of the songs are from either poems or prayers. Some of the songs were done at the tail end of last year. And the majority of the project itself were songs written from seven to eight years ago that were redefined and refined by XTM.Nation and other producers on the project. Ultimately, as I said, these are poems, prayers, and manifestations of my thoughts and emotions.
Can you share with us some of the people you worked with [on Live Life & Prosper]? Producers, background singers, featured artists?
It had 4 or 5 producers. The majority of the project was done by XTM.Nation. Mari, Echo Beats, who was one of the pioneers early in my career, Natural High, Runkus, a massive reggae legend, and Compound, a really talented instrumentalist and producer coming out of the Jamaican camp as well. The body of work does not feature anyone apart from a dope poet, Alyssa, who did the spoken word. But it was the producers and D’Yani, literally my brainchild.
Last year, you worked with TML Vibez and Zinoleesky. You’ve also spoken about the Stonebwoy connection. What’s the feedback been from fans and listeners on the continent?
Obviously, Jamaica and Africa have a massive influence on one another. I have gotten a lot of messages, requests, and responses not only for music that I have collaborated with these talented artists from Africa, but also for my music itself. I have a lot of supporters from the mother continent, ranging from South Africa, to Zambia, Egypt, and Seychelles. That being said, my music has traveled even further than I have ever imagined. I’m really grateful for that.
How did the Nigerian collaborations come about?
I did some work with the producer for TML Vibez, with another artist in Nigeria, and he was the one who contacted me. Zino was done through my UK publisher at the time. The majority of the projects were through networking and mutual respect for the music and the craft.
Do you have any songs that are your favorite on the project or that the recording process just stood out to you?
I love the project overall. All the songs have different purposes and different emotional attachment for me. But God Has Been Good is one of those songs that really resonated with me because it was probably the last song recorded on the project and also one of the most emotionally attached songs because it has so much meaning, so much feeling, and such a difference in terms of not only what’s been recorded but how the record had been laid and the style itself.
From both an artistic perspective and a fan’s perspective, what’s one thing you think the reggae scene could use more of?
Not only reggae music, but the music space. I think we need more appreciation of the craft and the art. We tend not to appreciate music for what it is. It’s beyond the next song. It’s beyond words. It’s beyond an expanded instrument. It’s definitely much more spiritual than most people realize. It has so much purpose for our lives. And I think that’s what we as artists and as audiences need to realize, appreciate, and understand. This music thing is very serious, real, and it’s something that should be appreciated
How do you deal with fans and stans who don’t understand this difference?
I have people who support me. I know African artists have extensive rivalry, in terms of [artists like] Stonebwoy and Shattawale. But it’s not the same for me because the majority of my fans are very calm. They have the same nature that I have. There’s always love for me on this side. It’s all love. Nothing less, nothing more.
Five to ten years from now, for anyone listening back on Live Life & Prosper, what’s one thing you would like to leave them with?
The feeling of hope, resilience, and gratitude. That’s the theme and the body. Those are the emotions that encapsulate the project itself.
For artists inspired by your work in Jamaica, Africa, and elsewhere, what’s one piece of advice you’d suggest?
One piece of advice that I would give to be themselves as authentically as possible, learn the business, and have fun. Because music is not only a business, it’s a space of expression and creation. You’re a vessel, be as free and expressive as possible and live as authentically as possible.
0 Comments
Add your own hot takes