bio
St. Mary has been known for its contribution in producing some of Jamaica’s best products, its contribution to the music industry is one such product that can be reckoned with. From the birth and triumph of Dancehall Queen Lady Saw, ‘Fire Man’ Capleton , Don Gorgon Ninja Man, Tanya Stephens, Admiral Tibet among many others, all greats that hailed from the parish. Music greatness seemed destined for this parish has the above mentioned have build and maintain strong presence in the music industry since their entry. Eras have emerged and other talents have risen. One such talent is reggae dancehall entertainer, Teflon the Young King. Since 2004 Teflon has been creating musical waves across the country and later throughout the world.
Born Sha-neil Andre Watson on February, 15, 1985 in the parish of St. Mary, to Pauline Brown and Lindel Watson, Teflon suffered an unfortunate lost of his mother who was murdered a few months after he was born. He was then raised by his grandparents who brought him up in a strict Christian home. Growing up in a rural community, in a place called Jack’s River, Teflon was exposed to some of the real factors of growing up in rural Jamaica. Going to church on Sundays, farming with his grandparents, playing ball and going to the river with his friends, were some of the things that made life fun. In addition, Teflon Young King’s most revered moments were when he started singing and playing the musical instruments at church and at school. By the age of ten Teflon was already playing the conga drum, which he loved, the recorder and he also experimented with the guitar and keyboard.
Transitioning into high school Teflon’slove for music spiraled as he showed peculiar interest in music class. His friends could identify him as the artist of the group, as they would knock benches and sing ‘tunes’–Teflon was always the star of the show. This was soon after discovered by the school community as he would be called on to perform whenever there was a concert or festival. While in high school, his vocational area was food and nutrition and he showed real potential in mastering this craft. However, this was not the path Teflon chose as doing music has been is most dominant calling. His note books could be found with an array of songs he wrote, this was fascinating to his friends and one of them introduced him to a studio called Double Lion in Tower Isles St. Mary. Teflon eventually visited the studio and was now in the company of entertainers and others who were aspiring towards such goal. This was the beginning for Teflon as he never looked back. Here, he met the owner of the studio, the engineer and Dj Wayne, a disc jock from Irie FM Radio station in Jamaica. Teflon was persistent and waited months for a chance to get one of his songs recorded, which finally happened and he recorded his first single called “ Bless Me Jah” for a budding recording label based in Ocho Rios.
This new single went viral across the air waves and was in heavy rotation. A second single titled “Holding Onto Jah Jah Love” was also recorded and this too created waves and did very well, which brought Teflon some excellent feedbacks. Producers were searching to find and work with this new hardcore talent. The year 2005 was an exemplary year for Teflon–the year of his big break. Emphatically, expressing his Rastafarian faith, Teflon began to grow is locks and most of his songs began to embody messages from his belief. Notwithstanding, he was known to deliver other types of songs giving us dancehall and hardcore vibes as well. Teflon was young, vibrant, and conscious with the tone the industry was searching for; destined for stardom from the beginning of his career, Teflon was only lacking the guidance of a good management team. Realizing this limitless musical potential, Irie FM’s Disc Jock, Wayne Morris, shortly assumed the role as his manager. This new guidance saw Teflon getting the opportunity to record for some of the industry’s biggest names. Producers such as Cordell Burrell, Donavan Bennett, Micheal Brissett, among many others, the demand to have him on a record was high, getting air played was now a norm. However, many people didn’t know the face to match to this melodic sound.
In 2004 Teflon made his first appearance on a popular dancehall stage show called “Fully Loaded”. Here, artists are known to be ‘bottled and booed’ off thw stage if the patrons didn’t feel their performances. Teflon made his entry with his song “Holding onto Jah Jah Love” and had the crowd in a frenzy, singing word for word and requesting him to sing again. He received two encores and his performance was well received by the audience. His performance made headline in local news paper the following day, and paved the way for him to be booked by all other big shows and platforms such as Reggae Sum Fest and Sting, just to name a few. After making his mark in the music industry ,Teflon Young King was then compared and seen has a younger version of iconic artist, Sizzla Kolonje. He was now travelling abroad and performing in countries such as Canada, a few states in America, several Caribbean islands including Barbados, Antigua and Trinidad etc. Performing at the Rototom festival in Italy was another great achievement in his career. However, one of his greatest accomplishments in his career was achieving his first number one song and video in 2007, with a track called “Gun Rise” on the Bullet Proof Vest Riddim. The video/song was number one simultaneously on RE TV and Hype TV video charts, and was also number one for five weeks on CVM’s E- Strip music program. This again marks the beginning of more greatness for this artist as he continued to deliver excellent music to the world.
Teflon debuts his first album called “ Motherless Child” on Tads International Record label, released in e- stores in 2009. The album peeked #24 on I-tunes top 100 reggae album chart, which was another great gain in the young artist career. Teflon faced unforeseen challenges in his musical career that interrupted productivity. However, he was determine and motivated to keep on his musical path, to which he continued to receive steady rotation on the air waves throughout 2009 with radio hits such as “Jail House Rock “and All the Days of My Life,” produced by Big Ship’s Stephen Di Genius Mcgregor. Teflon’s local and international fan base has grown tremendously and the overseas market was in high demand for him, especially Europe. He was invited to tour on Sizzla’s Ghetto Youthology Tour in Europe. Here he performed as the opening act for Sizzla for more than eight weeks in sold out venues across Europe, in places such as Holland, Sweden, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Slovania.
Teflon then completed another Album entitled “Long Time Coming” produced by Yard A Love Records, his own recording label, Uncrowned and Let Jah Be Praise are other albums released by the talented reggae/ dancehall artist. Legendary producer Fattis Burrell was also working on an album to be released but unfortunately he passed away before the album was completed. On December, 4, 2015 Teflon released another album entitled “ Young King-The Beginning, produced by Yard A Love Records featuring the legendary Lee Scratch Perry on a track called “ Forgiveness”. This also featured other popular tracks such as “ Love and Adore and Tree Without Roots that received great feedbacks from the fans all over. In April, 2019 Teflon released another album in collaboration with Tads International Record Label entitled “Legacy”, the artist showed off his maturity and lyrical prowess once more, delivering songs with messages of determination, focus, motivation and how to be resilient even, in the face of adversities. Each of the songs was captivating enough to keep listeners listening, and doing so with each track on repeat. Hit producers Dj Wayne and Not Nice produced tracks on this project that got steady rotation on the air waves. Maffizie Entertainment also worked on this project creating some fascinating rhythms that was suited to every song. This project delivers resounding messages on what it means to be determined.
Over the years Teflon has shown how versatile and capable he is in creating and delivering quality music and performance. Continuously working to improve and excel, Teflon has been in the studio working on yet another quality album. Fans have been given a few sample tracks from the album; these are songs such as “Vacancy, Solid to the End, Think before you talk and Brimstone. The reviews on these tracks are great and so are the anticipation expressed for this project, the air waves both local and international have been heavily rotating these songs . March, 12, 2021 was release date for this captivating album entitled, “Years A Pain”. The album is produced by Yard A Love Records, with productions from Bartley, Maffizie and Sweat Box Production just to name a few. The album consists of twenty incredible tracks and features collaboration from artist such as I Wayne and Turbulence on what is said to be two powerful collaborations. The tracks on this album is said to be unique enough to fit every mood as it speaks on topics of love, self acceptance, injustice, Rastafarianism, living your best life and general struggles. From ‘Years A Pain’, emerged an even more mature Teflon, which gave birth to The Young King. He penned another instant classic album called ‘Tears Of Joy’, in 2022. On this studio album, Teflon Young King executively produced in conjunction with his manager, Asher ‘AC’ Chevannes, and CEO of AC Muzyk LLC. The album comprised of twelve solid, uplifting and prolific reggae tracks that are suited for everyone, both young and old, and all generations. Some of the tracks from Tears of Joy album are Kungo, Thank You Father, No Rush and No To Vanity have gotten great reviews and traction from fans. Essentially, these are just a few of the topic that form the basis of what promises to be an astounding project that is pleasing for all to listen and enjoy.
This bio was modified by Yard A Love Records and AC Muzyk LLC on April 17, 2023
Special thanks to AC, Otis and the Yard A Love team