Standing at six feet tall, the quintessential rising talent to be heard is … Read Full Bio ↴Standing at six feet tall, the quintessential rising talent to be heard is Eric Somers known to the world as “Iyara”. A deejay with numerous talents, Somers was crafted within a multicultural country called Jamaica “Land we Love”.

Grounded and humble Somers gleams that his hometown is one that has the lowest crime rates, highest rainfall and some of the most well-mannered citizens, known as Portland, Jamaica. Born to Veronica Layne and Carl Somers, Somers is the fifth of six children. Growing up in a small district called Bellevue District in Rio Grande Valley, Somers was exposed to little or no city life distractions therefore school was definitely his main priority.

After attending the Bellevue All Age School, he furthered his education at Port Antonio High School. He owes the utmost respect to two particular teachers for molding and grooming him into the man he is today. His aspiration for music began when he first saw dancehall veteran Rodney Pryce known to the dancehall world as ‘Bounty Killa’ performed ‘superfly’ at a school event. Since then, his admiration for the music industry grew.

As he matured, Somers sought to make his place in the music industry. As a young man, he became an apprentice in his father’s construction company; however little did his father know that Somers was not made out to be a construction worker resulting in him firing him eight times. Music was obviously his direction even though he was constantly hindered or prevented from writing lyrics.

Although Somers grew up hearing his father playing jazz and blues, mento and rock steady, Somers identifies himself with dancehall and reggae. Somers decided to leave his humble beginnings to seriously pursue his musical journey and headed for Whitehall, Kingston.

As he embarked on his new life in the city, a Rastafarian man overheard him deejaying and thought his talent had meaning; “a voice that needed to be heard”. This was the birth of his stage name Iyara. Music is Somers’ escape and he insisted on getting a musical break.

“Advance” also known as _a friend of Somers’ happened to be the nephew of Somers musical idol Bounty Killa, how ironic is that? With a burning desire to showcase his talent, Advance introduced Bounty Killa to Somers at Bounty Killa’s place of residence. Killa was thrilled by his lyrical content, his passion and his humility.

On that day, his talent became his ticket to his success when he joined Killa on stage at 2008 Champion in Actions, which was his very first time performing and which he executed well.

Immediately after, he was signed to Alliance Next Generation. Somers’ musical talent would not be detained.

Though riding the momentum Iyara nonetheless encountered rocky roads but managed to overcome them, allowing his career to have highlight performances at events such as Sting, Reggae Sumfest, Champions in Action, and performances in the United Kingdom, Canada, and America. Iyara also give back to his community performing at schools and other local events. His aim within this music industry is to get the entire world to listen to his music and feel his positive expression. But in Iyara’s own words, “Time is the master, you can ask the clock”.