Akeen Fennell, 2024 Digicel Rising Stars winner, credits the competition for making him a much bolder person. A certified bartender and waiter, Fennell’s journey in the competition was not an easy ride. “Finally have an idea what Buju Banton meant when he said, ‘It’s not an easy road, many see the glamour and the glitter and dem think a bed a rose.
’ Campaigning was rough, but with the right team and support it was much better. Week in, week out you’re tired, your voice gets hoarse and you still have to push through on Sunday night. I sing in hotels for a living, which made it a lot harder, because my voice gets no rest.
Everyday I’m singing straight up until Sunday; it wasn’t pretty at all. God that brought me through because some days I mean there’s just no voice,” Fennell told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday. On Sunday night, 29-year-old Fennell emerged victor in the 20th staging of the Digicel Rising Stars competition, beating Renecia Bernard, who finished in second place.
Fennell shared that he has always wanted to enter the competition, but the timing was never perfect. “[S]omething always came up and I just never did. But this time was different.
I was speaking with a friend on the phone and, while on the phone, I remember telling the person that I wanted something more to do; I needed another job or something, and the person said to me, ‘Akeen you don’t need to be working for nobody with that voice.’ And immediately it hit me like a ton of b.