Veteran dancehall artiste and international superstar Patra recently released a new track titled Love Your Body, her first musical release in seven years.
The single is on the ‘Cool Reminder’ rhythm and is produced by Notnice Records. Patra said that her agent set her up with Notnice, a producer whom she had admired and respected for many years.
“We had the hook up by his house and I could see it on his face as he wondered what I have because a long time him no hear anything from me. But I had that smirk in my mind and then he put the rhythm on and I was like ‘ natural body come again the whole a dem get nervous‘ and he was like ‘what’,” Patra shared.
She explained that self-love and natural body acceptance are important to her so to express how she felt on the track was effortless.
“There is a reason why I sing Love your body. For me I’m a natural girl so I believe you have to love who you are and take care of yourself. It’s a cultural thing, because in Jamaica, women are so confident. So I cherish that as a woman coming up from a long time ago. I’m no longer that young girl or that Patra back in the day. I’ve grown and I am more mature. For me it’s about loving who you are and cherishing that,” she said.
Patra outlined that her latest single is not in response to the much publicised body adjustments done by some female entertainers in the dancehall industry, but was more an appreciation for the preservation of her own body. She admitted that she is not fully au fait with everything that has been happening in the music space recently.
“When I look at myself, nature has preserved me and God has preserved me. When I look in the mirror and see what I see, I appreciate it. But whatever people choose to do to their bodies is their choice,” she said. For Notnice, working with Patra was both fulfilling and satisfying.
“When mi did fi actually link up wid har, mi did likkle bit nervous inno star … dealing with someone for the first time, you no know what to expect. You don’t know their personality and you don’t know the mood weh dem a go deh inna. Once she go so and hail mi up, mi say to myself ‘it look like har energy good’,” he shared. He said her energy matched his, which led to a great recording session. Notnice said the majority of the creative work was done by Patra even though she insisted that she needed his input.
