Curt ‘Ceejay’ Johnson has died following a shooting incident in the USA. He will be remembered for many things. His music, his artistry and for being a real man.
His realness was heard on his last release ‘Goodbye’ which was published on 15 April. It saw the singer singing “never wanna say goodbye baby girl, ah you mi have to come back to” to his wife.
So when news of his death started spreading this morning (15 May) it was received by many as a publicity stunt. Untrue. A wicked joke. It was true though. Ceejay Johnson was dead, murdered after leaving a party in New Jersey.
Details on his shooting death are yet unclear. Some reports are that he was shot over six times. Some claim that his shooting wasn’t a robbery.
What is certain, is that Ceejay Johnson’s lost is one being shared by his family and the Guyanese music community.
He was a singer, songwriting, producer, label owner, and entertainment entrepreneur.
Ceejay Johnson, was one of the many Guyanese artistes who has been contributing to the rise in recognition of music by Guyanese. He was partly responsible for the blossoming in the proliferation of Guyanese Music over the last five to ten years.
Ceejay migrated to the US in 2002 and just like every other immigrant, his dreams was to live the American dream. That dream became a reality in 2013 when he recorded his first song as an artist called “Nah Badmind” which was the beginning of a success story.
The feedback that came from his first project enabled him to be noticed by top producers, including one of Jamaica’s best, Not Nice.
Being on this musical icons radar didn’t just motivate Ceejay Johnson to grind harder, but it also gave him the opportunity to work with Not Nice Records on a number of different projects.
Ceejay Johnson has released dozens of hit singles since his first project back in 2013. And has worked with some of the most talented and respected producers within the music industry.
One of his lifelong goals was to travel home to his birth country, Guyana, and establish a Guyanese branch of his record label Roll Out Records (ROR). Which will be focusing on giving talented youths a chance to do music.
Investigations into his murder are ongoing.
