The Ifficial Doniki Musik Myspace

Trawl through the many MySpace sites on a regular basis and you will soonencounter many artists who are claiming one title or another. Daily you find singers proclaiming tobe the New Sensation , next Bob Marley or Princess of Rn’b and these are just some of the lessgrandiose claims.

On further examination of their profile and 10,000 MySpace friends you areexpecting something special from their music player. Unfortunately, after a brief listen their wildclaims are often quickly laid to rest and you can dismiss them as nothing more than hype.

However sometimes MySpace is like a Mine rich with precious jewels, just waitingto be unearthed. One such diamond in the rough is Visionary Rastafarian Singer Doniki. Born DonaldWillis, on the 11th August 1966 he was raised and spent his first formative years in Trenchtown,Kingston 12.

Even after only a brief look at reggae history you may quickly realise some ofthe most world renowned Reggae artists hail from two main garrison communities. Those of coursebeing the afore mentioned , Trenchtown , Kingston 12 and Waterhouse , Kingston 11.These WesternKingston Ghetto areas have often been the backdrop to violent political struggle , tribalistic Gangwarfare, with many residents living a daily hand to mouth existence.

Amidst all this turmoil these areas have been a hot bed of talent, with musicbeing the only vehicle for some, to elevate themselves. A way to find some kind of improvement intheir social and economic position.

Doniki ‘s Interest in music Steadily grew throughout his early schooldays ,first attending St Albans Primary ,and had increased by the time he reached Denham Town HighSchool. Whilst at secondary school he took every opportunity to sing, and even then it was obviousto many he had a genuine talent.

After leaving school, at the age of sixteen, he undertook his first paid workwithin the music world. First he cut his teeth on romantic sound system and moved on to thelegendary Killamanjaro set and to this day he is remembered as one of most exciting Dancehallperformers of the period.

In 1982 he recorded his first song, she give me Icky for Mikey Tomlinson. Overthe next few years he developed his style mentored first by Johnny Osborne, and then Bunny Wailer.By now he had been joined by Steady Ranks and they soon built a reputation as one of the mostdynamic stage show acts.

The Duo then started writing and recording for Star Trail Productions .Theyenjoyed success with songs such as Trod On and Jump Nyahbinghi and it was here that a wideraudience became aware of the singers.

They then moved onto, the Ocho Rios based, Kariang label. It was in fact Ex-StarTrail stable mate, Garnett Silk who recommended Doniki to Kariang boss Jah Mikes. This associationcontinued for many years with the pair releasing an Album called Come To Give Praises, in1997. They toured many parts of the world including France, Italy, Israel, Canada and the IvoryCoast. In this time Doniki wrote for Platinum selling French Artist PierPoljack which furtherenhanced his reputation in Europe.

As a thirst for Authentic Roots music began to grow inplaces like France and Germany, he had continued success with many songs including Break Free, acombination with Anthony B.

2006 saw the long awaited debut Album from Doniki entitled RadikalExpressions, produced by Kariang and licensed to French label Makkasound .It has been verywell received and once again shows the singers skill at social commentary.

Doniki by now had been a Waterhouse resident for a number of years and his songsbecame ever more Radikal . Living up to today through many Turbulent times he has witnessedWaterhouse become a No go area for many and this has provided the subject matter for his currentJamaican single.

Gully Bank looks to have provided Doniki with his biggest Jamaicanrelease to date. Released in July ’07 it has been receiving heavy rotation on all Jamaican Radiostations and the accompanying video has already reached number one on the RE.TV video chart.Life Of The People and Gully Bank Pt2 are also receiving major airplay, and they areall taken from the forth coming Album Gully Bank.

Gully Bank is the first of two albums the singer has now completedfor Gully Bank Musik Ltd. Produced by David Scorpion,it has been getting serious attention from the few industry insiders who have been fortunate enoughto hear the finished Album. Recorded entirely at Tuff Gong Studio, by Chief Engineer RolandMcDermott it features many of Jamaica’s topflight musicians (see Pictures).It received theattention of just one Mixing Engineer Shane C Brown , working out of Shaggy's Big Yard Studio and this shows with consistent qualitythroughout.

It is an Album which still caters for Doniki’s existing fan base that has alwaysbeen on the rootsier side of the Dancehall but now places the singer right in the heart of theDancehall. There are many songs which you quickly find yourself singing along to, where theinfectious melody instantly hooks you. But this is Doniki’s real skill because underpinning allthat this singer is writing lyric’s of such magnitude he is providing us with Anthems to enjoy now,but also a blueprint for the next generation of Songwriters.

Doniki is also currently producing songs for the Bay rock Label in conjunctionwith C E O Norman “Bobbo “Lamont. They have already released the Bay rock Riddim with Donikijoined on the riddim by Lutan Fyah , Ginjah and Ras Brando to name just a few.

What more therefore can be said of Doniki , the Singer who nurtured his talentamongst the tenement yards of Trenchtown and then refined it by the Gully Bank In Waterhouse.Wellthis is the artist who has been rated by the biggest set of musicians over the years as Reggae’smost underrated Artist. This is the singer that the most High profile Artists, greet with “yes misinger “with a sincerity not always displayed nowadays. The Artist’s , Artist!

Doniki is not out to claim any title, ask him and he will simply tell you he isone of Selassie I Warrior’s fighting on the battlefield. Dennis Brown never asked to be called theCrown Prince of Reggae, nor Bob Marley to be called The Reggae King. So we will just leave it tohistory to decide on a Title, but there can be no doubt on this Singer's Talent, Just take a listento the MySpace player. No hype here.

Keep It Gully !