Photos: VP Records
To mark his 28th birthday, Intence is releasing “Lesson,” the clear-eyed lead single from his forthcoming debut album, VOYAGE. The video is out now, and the single will be available digitally via VP Records.
On “Lesson,” a track produced by Nuh Brakes Records, Intence reflects on the hardship and loss he’s suffered, digging deep to offer painful truths over somber piano notes. Rather than give up, however, the Jamaican deejay is defiant, and pulls wisdom from trauma.
The new song is something of a solemn victory lap for Intence. Despite adversity, his star has continued to rise over the past year. In the past six months alone, he packed his debut U.S. show at Club Amazura in Queens, NY; became the first modern Dancehall artist to drop a freestyle on the On the Radar Radio platform; and has maintained momentum with a steady stream of new music.
VOYAGE will be Intence’s first project since 2021, when he dropped both the Wounded EP and the Public Enemy No. 1 mixtape. That same year, New York Times writer Jody Rosen hailed Intence’s song “Yahoo Boyz” as “the biggest Dancehall smash of 2021.”