KINGSTON, Jamaica — Cognisant of the fact that popular music is mostly youth and image driven, 52- year-old Emanuel Stain is optimistic that at his age, he can make the breakthrough that he craves.

He came close to making an impact in the late 1990s, when he recorded for producer Dave Kelly, however, that recording never saw the light of day.

“Dave Kelly was the hot producer back then when I recorded the song, Medicine.  At the time of that recording with Dave Kelly, the song never made it onto the compilation it was intended for — and to this day I don’t fully know the reason why. That was a moment that could have changed everything for me early on and not getting that break was a setback I had to find a way to move past. But everything happens in its time, and I’m still here, still creating and hoping to get that hit song,” Stain told Observer Online recently.