Teejay is one of Jamaica’s most versatile and talked-about dancehall artists worldwide.

The 29-year-old, who has been in the dancehall scene for almost a decade, made an impact on Jamaica’s most popular musical genre by releasing bangers after bangers including, “Up Top Boss,” “From Rags To Riches,” “Unfaithful Games,” and “People,” just to name a few. He also earned the respect of fans across the island and dancehall legends like Mavado, who worked with him during the beginning of his career, to Vybz Kartel, who was featured on Teejay’s singles “Up Top Gaza” and “Pressure.”

But, with the help of TikTok, Teejay was able to move beyond Jamaica and reach millions of people globally with his summer of 2023 breakout single, “Drift.” The song continues to spread with more than 60 million global streams and over 15 million YouTube views on the official music video. The contagious hook is still making its waves around nightclubs across the globe, climbing the U.S. Billboard charts and accumulating over a quarter of a billion TikTok views for its viral dance, which was created by Gabbidon from Kingston, Jamaica. Stars like Chris Brown, Cardi B, Offset, and Burna Boy have been seen dancing to the hit. Teejay says that the song's success was a huge shock to him.

“It was a shocker. I swear, it was a shocker because ‘Drift’ was a throwaway song. It was going in the bin. At the time, I didn't even think about the song as a serious song because it was all a joke. I was gimmicking. I'm a hardcore dancehall artist, but after I recorded the song, everybody in the team loved it so we just decided to release it and then it just blew up on TikTok. After that, I was just like, ‘Whoa,’” he tells BET.

The St. James native, who grew up in a musical family, reveals his gratitude for the video hosting service because it was hard for an artist to push out their music at one point in Jamaica. “Now, you can just post something on TikTok and once it's viral, the world's gonna know about it,” he says. “It's just to promote yourself as an artist now, because most of the time, I realize that even if the song blew up on TikTok, people still don't know the artist's face. So you have to position yourself to go out there to market, and do promotion, and go hard, so people can know the face as much as they know the song.” 

The success of “Drift” caught the eye of Grammy-nominated Afrobeats singer Davido, who reached out to Teejay’s management to jump on the remix, released last Friday (Dec. 15). The collaboration united two cultures. It featured a universal sound that bridged the gap between West Africa and the Caribbean. Teejay and Davido combined their signature melodic tones, mashing up English, Jamaican Patois, and Yoruba languages. A visual shot in Lagos, Nigeria, also accompanied it. “It's good for the culture,” says Teejay. “It was more of an authentic vibe to me. I think being Jamaican and Davido being African… As a Caribbean artist, we are all from Africa, so the vibe was just right. The connection was just right. Everything was right.” Another remix to “Drift” featuring French Montana was released on Thursday (Dec. 21), alongside a music video.

Earlier this year, Teejay made his television debut on BET by teaming up with Grammy Award-winning reggae artist Shaggy for a performance of “Gyal Dem Time.” Shaggy, who’s been a mentor throughout Teejay’s career, executively produced his debut EP, I Am Chippy, set to be released at the beginning of 2024. “Shaggy has been there from the jump, from before we found ‘Drift.’ He is always motivating me, giving me inspiration, bringing me on the road with him just to see how to network with people, how to communicate, how to even work a room, just everything. So, Shaggy is like a guardian angel watching over me – who is still here,” Teejay explains. “Everything was recorded by me at my studio. But, Shaggy was the person who decided to take everything and co-produce the album. Just to have a name that big on it… When people hear the album and everything, they will recognize Shaggy.”

Teejay says this forthcoming EP, inspired by a nickname given to him by friends and family when he was a teenager, will feature Skillibeng and some of Jamaica’s talented artists. “The EP basically shows all my growth and tells a story about where I come from,” he adds.

Teejay admits that he finds inspiration to make music within the streets. He says, “My inspiration comes from things that I always think about – things that I want to send out to the universe. For example, if I don't have a BMW or [Mercedes] Benz, I'm always gonna sing about a BMW or Benz. I always try to send out things to the universe. I'm inspired by nature itself.”

The most important thing he’s learned while coming up in the music industry was discipline. “You have to have a lot of discipline and you have to believe in people before you can even believe in yourself. You have to believe in everything that you're doing and just discipline yourself and educate yourself to music 100 percent,” he says. That discipline garnered Teejay a record and publishing deal with Warner Music Group and Warner Chappell Music. “All I have to do is continue to work. What’s next for me is greatness… My goal for the new year is to make Teejay’s voice be heard all over the world.”