Donna Makeda

Donna started singing and performing 25 years ago, her foundation in music came from the church, which she attended when she was a little girl. Donna started out as a dancer; she was trained in Afro-Caribbean Dance, Modern Dance, Folk Dance, Kathak and Classical Ballet. At age 16, she opened her own dance & aerobics school called “Burning Flame International” Dance Troupe. By the time Donna got to Canada, she had already been performing extensively throughout Guyana with her dance troupe. Singing at that time was just a fun thing for her. Upon siting Ras Tafari, Donna began to take her music more seriously and began writing lyrics and practicing on sound systems, singing at various stage shows and winning many competitions. Upon migrating to Canada in early 1990 as a worker in the entertainment field, Donna did her first international stage show and captivated her audience to the point where Denise Jones of Jones & Jones Productions decided to manage Donna’s musical career. From there on in, it was just upward movements for Donna. Although that contract/relationship dissolved within one year, Donna kept on promoting herself and releasing her music.
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Donna just released her new album entitled “Jah Ah De Rulah” which is a 12-track CD, which includes songs like “Come Into My Life” featuring Prince Everald, a slamming, conscious track, the hit single “Make Love, Not War” featuring Roger B, “In My House” featuring Negus Morris of the Heptones, the ever popular “Folk Song Medley” and ‘Sweet Victory’ (groundation dub). Performing on stage alongside many top artists including Capleton, Coco Tea, Marcia Griffiths, Sister Carol, Culture, Beres Hammond, Buju Banton, Michael Rose, Cutty Ranks, Yami Bolo, Anthony B and Louie Culture to name a few, Donna has certainly made a name for herself.
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With her bevy of beautiful and flexible dancers (Caribbean Dance Theatre) and her hard-core conscious lyrics, Donna Makeda is certainly making a mark on the national and international reggae music scene. She has been very busy working on shows such as the Jamaica Day celebrations, the Marcus Garvey Day celebrations, The Canadian Reggae Music Awards, The Toronto Street Festival, Irie Music Festival, Afrikadey in Calgary and Caribana to name a few. Donna Makeda has certainly proven to be one of the hardest working recording artists residing in Toronto, Canada.
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She has garnered for herself eight Reggae Music Awards including “Top Reggae Newcomer” in 1993, “Top Reggae Dancehall DJ (female) in 1995, 1996 and 1999 and 2003 and “Top Reggae Music Video (for her video “Jah Great Woman”) in 1995 from the Canadian Reggae Music Awards. An “Arts & Entertainment Award” for her contribution to the Arts from her home country – Guyana in 2000, and an “Artistic Award of Excellence” from the Inter-City Multicultural School of Excellence Reading Club in 2001. Donna has performed extensively in Canada in places like Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, also internationally in Barbados, Guyana, New York and Jamaica.
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Her song “Sweet Victory” was #1 on the reggae charts in Miami for eight weeks while “South Africa” (from her CD “Who Can Endure” released 1998) was following closely at #2. “Jah Great Woman” also enjoyed much airplay and was #1 in Miami for six weeks. The “Jah Great Woman” music video, which was done with the help of Videofact, was on high rotation on Much Music and played in countries like Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and New York on selected programmes.