The location: Manhattan New York. The setting: No Conduct Radio. The subject: Jalena. The mission: prove to the soca community and probably the world, that she is not just another gimmick artist. You see the thing is, in Jalena’s head, she thinks that the color of her skin takes away from her talent as a musical artist. Just like Eminem in hip hop, Robin Thicke in R&B & Collie Buddz in dancehall. Jalena is white and of German decent, but if you ask Jalena she would quickly tell you that only her parents are from Germany and she is a Tortolian born & raised.

Being a soca musician isn’t a hard idea to fathom since the main music genres in the Caribbean are soca, calypso and reggae. Even being a German soca musician isn’t thought of as to farfetched because soca is bigger in Europe than it is in America. Jalena states “It’s not like someone came to me and said you’re a white girl who loves to sing soca. Let’s put you up on stage and make money. But it’s like every time I perform that’s the response I get and it’s like once they see me set foot onstage and open my mouth they label me before I even get to my chorus. That’s why I’m reluctant to do stage shows. I’ve been through this all over and I’ve performed from Canada to the Caribbean and everywhere in between. I’ve earned my spot, nobody put me here. When it’s all said and done I want to be known for my talents as an artist not the color of my skin.”

Nobody took Eminem serious until he dropped a hit single that made everyone respect his style. When ‘Come Around’ came out I’m pretty sure everybody thought Collie Buddz was a Rastafari from Jamaica until he started doing stage shows and making live appearances. But by that time the color of his skin didn’t matter because the song already established his credentials as a serious sing jay. “I wouldn’t want my rise to the top to be any diffrent.” Jalena has earned her spot indeed. With a discography that boast of hits and singles. From her days of replacing Claudette Peters (a person she loves and respects) in the group Da Bahn with songs like Text Me and Reasons, to her official singles as a solo artist Roll and Wutless.

Jalena also states. “Even though I been in the industry only 3 years, this isn’t something that just happened yesterday; I have been singing all my life. I do music because I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I attended 5 different colleges and studied 5 different majors. I just can’t see myself doing a desk job somewhere. I love being creative, I like coming up with songs and melodies and writing lyrics. Music is my life.” Music is also more to Jalena than just money and fame. For Jalena it is about respect, being loved and appreciated for what she does behind a mic.