Teejay clears the air at Reggae Sumfest

Hopping into the second half of the year on a high, Teejay is gearing up for the release of his EP I am Chippy.

Speaking to THE STAR after his performance at Reggae Sumfest, the Uptop Boss said the project will be chock full of collaborations with dancehall heavyweights.

"We have some nice songs with some nice artistes. I have Shaggy on the EP. Shaggy is like a mentor to me, so to have Shaggy on the album is like WOW. We just a give the people dem some good music, authentic dancehall music," he said. Set for release at the end of August, the project will be distributed by Warner Music with whom Teejay inked a deal in June.

"I signed a publishing deal and I signed a record label deal," he told THE STAR. "It's a good thing. Signing to Warner Music doesn't mean that 'Oh, Teejay buss now', it just means that Teejay has a machine to push his thing. So [I] still have to work hard and deliver good music to his company."

Teejay also moved to clear up rumours about his relationship with his former manager Romeich Major.

"Me and Romeich nuh have nothing bad, trust me we just show love to each other same way. So a the family thing same way. At the time mi just did a go through something and feel like mi ago give upon music, but we just affi do wah we affi do. No bad blood, no bad energy, it's the same. The work just continues," he said.

Also rebuffing claims that DJ Mac is the force behind the summer hit Drift, Teejay said he "is not the producer for the song".

He explained, "A DJ Panda send me that riddim from March 4 and we voice (on) the ridddim inna like two days' time. But promotion wise, you know we are a team, so me stay suh and put DJ Mac pon di song same way. Some altercation gwaan between me and Mac dem, and we did a create this together. So me just lowe that alone and tell myself seh me ago make the song strive same way. Even though Mac is not the producer for the song, mi still decide fi keep Mac as a producer same way, because we a big people and mi nah make nobody feel like wah dem a do a in vain. So me just make it work and everything good," he said.

Released in May, the song has amassed more than six million views on YouTube and a viral dance routine. DJ Mac is known for his work on recent dancehall hits like Valiant's Speed Off and Jahshii's Born Fighter.