Raised on the beautiful, yet small island of St. Maarten, Shane “Tha Hot$hot” Kelly became influenced by Hip-Hop music at a young age. Having always been known as the quiet child, he proved his ability to openly broadcast his opinions by dedicating his time to writing a few rhymes every day after coming home from school, as a way to release his tension and thoughts about a variety of topics. Rapidly, Shane started to become increasingly involved with his music and delivering messages in a positive way. Not only did this up and coming rapper develop a new form of confidence, but he made it very clear that he would work his hardest to achieve his dream. “I'm one of the most confident and determined people that you'll ever meet.” Shane says. “I use the positive aspects of my life as motivation to get what I want and need, in order to succeed in the things that I want to accomplish in life.”
Shane also discovered a new tool for motivation, following the untimely death of his childhood friend, Gerald “Young G” James, who used to chant raps with him as a child. Knowing how much Gerald supported him, Tha Hot$hot continued to push harder for his dream, and used his friends passing as a source of encouragement to make him, and many other loved ones proud. He made it his goal to create powerful lyrics that have the ability to encourage an audience regardless of their age, race or gender.
Tha Hot$hot is currently under the independent record label D.Y. Entertainment, and released his second mixtape “Swagger 101 Vol. 2: From Local to Global,” on May 18th 2012, which was hosted by Toronto's own DJ Wikked. This mixtape made Shane the first St. Maartener to gain over 50,000 views and 4,000 downloads on the popular Hip-Hop website Datpiff. Furthermore, he was awarded the “Best Male Rap Artist” at the 2012 SXM Music Awards and his first music video for his hit single “Reppin’ It,” made its debut at the #1 spot on TEMPO Networks’ Cross Caribbean Countdown and remained #1 for 6 consecutive weeks. It continued on the countdown for a total of 6 months, marking Shane as the first artist out of St. Maarten to do so.
In addition to these accomplishments, Tha Hot$hot’s website “thahotshot.com” went public as well, enabling him to spread his music on a more international platform. Shane continues to dedicate himself to releasing high quality music in every aspect, and is expected to release new original music and more projects to continue adding to his resume, as well as remaining in the spotlight.
On September 17th, 2013 Tha Hot$hot released his first official single “Tropical Limelight” featuring songstress $tekaly Tha Singer. The single was released on iTunes and Amazon, along with a variety of other digital music stores. His label/management D.Y. Entertainment then teamed up with Pantason Music & Subkonshus Music out of Jamaica; and on June 10th, 2014 released the “Tropical Limelight” Remix which again featured $tekaly Tha Singer & added the Dancehall Star Konshens! He became the first St. Maarten Artist to feature the Dancehall Star, and since then went on to be on rotation on many different radio stations throughout the Caribbean and the rest of the world.
D.Y. Ent. /I From Here Music & Southern Smoke presented Tha Hot$hot's brand new mixtape project “Anticipation For Greatness” hosted by the World Famous Dj Smallz. The mixtape was released on Livemixtapes.com & datpiff.com on August 12th, 2014, as he became the first Recording Artist from St. Maarten to work with Dj Smallz. Smallz is the CEO of the Southern Smoke Brand is one of the top Hip-Hop mixtape DJs in the world. Following the success of his mixtape, Tha Hot$hot covered “The Rhythmic Lounge Magazine” September/October Volume 11 Issue. An up and coming magazine located in Connecticut, USA which features Artists, Entertainers & Musicians from around the World. This marked his first time covering any magazine and an article on him was featured on pages 6-7. Success nearly repeated itself when the music video for his 1st official single “Tropical Limelight” landed at #3 in its debut on the Cross Caribbean Countdown on TEMPO Networks. He became the only St. Maarten Artist to debut in the TOP 3 on two separate occasions, and to also secure a TOP 3 position with 3 different videos. The video then went on to capture the #1 position in its 6th and 7th week on the countdown, before being retired at #3 in its 8th and final week. This made him the only St. Maarten Artist to remain at #1 with 2 different videos for consecutive weeks.
In March of 2015, he opened the calendar year by adding another accomplishment to his name, as he became one of only a few artists from St. Maarten to have his music video featured on the well known Hip-Hop website “WorldStarHipHop.com.” The music video for his single “Out With A Bang,” which comes off his “Anticipation For Greatness” mixtape was premiered on the website. Quickly following the premier, his “Tropical Limelight” single charted at #59 on the “Urban Charts” of ChartBase in Denmark. The Chart is based on several international urban-charts and the biggest mainstream urban-hits in the world. He stepped into the history books for his home island of St. Maarten yet again, when he was booked as an Opening Performer for Lil Wayne, Rich Homie Quan, Lil Dicky and K. Camp, at The “Dope Music Festival” in Everett, Washington on December 18th, 2015. D.Y. Entertainment Independent Record Label & Management established a settlement with a Booking Agency based in New York, which gave Tha Hot$hot the opportunity to open for his first show in the USA, and will also provide more shows both regional and internationally.
From his admirable attitude and perspective on music, to his compelling lyrics, it's safe to say Tha Hot$hot is an artist we all need to look out for!