YRush is now ‘CyberRush’ - Famed DJ drops music for cybersecurity

Former disc jockey and sound system selector YRush has officially exited the music world and "levelled up" to cybersecurity, a move he said was inspired by a spiritual fulfilment of purpose.

He told THE WEEKEND STAR that he had reached a junction in his life in which he wanted something new.

"It probably had to do with the logistics of what was going on in the music industry, but a lot of it was spiritual. When I first decided to pick a path, I went into marketing and cybersecurity and then I started doing some physical fitness guidance for people over the age of 35. But I got a message from Jah and Jah seh 'No brethren, is not dat mi put yuh pon earth fah' and I then switched back into cybersecurity," said YRush.

"This is like closer to the true calling of my career because I've always been in technology, but it was more like a hobby, but [it was] something I was very good at," he added.

YRush founded the popular Code Red Sound, which, in 2022, became the first Jamaican sound to win the World Clash competition in nearly two decades. As a former radio DJ who worked in more than 50 countries while winning multiple Fully Loaded DJ Competition titles, he said he's ready to create more history in a space that's not necessarily dominated by Jamaicans.

"I'm tryna do what I can to change the narrative of Jamaica and to be a different role model. I'm tryna show people that there's another way to become a success and, if I can do it, you can," said YRush, whose given name is Russell Alexander.

His cyber journey, which officially started last month, saw him launching out as the chief security operations manager for Lignum Security. He is not only tasked with security testing and ethical hacking, but controlling the overall security aspects of the company.

"We all only have one life to live and I didn't see anything in music that I didn't accomplish. But, where I'm at right now, mi have mi eye set pon Elon Musk; yea man, mi a guh fi him man," he said smiling. "But I'm more excited because I think I can make a big impact on the world in a different way now. Jamaica has been very powerful worldwide but mainly in entertainment - we're either entertainers in sports or music and we have more in us to offer than that," he said.

"I definitely have support, but, when you try to level up, that's when the test dem, di stress and di challenges and di drama, ago reach yuh. So I got support, but I also got a lot a pressure, headaches and battles," said YRush, who's now been nicknamed 'CyberRush'.

He opined that, with the cultural shift within the musical landscape, the demand for international dancehall has dwindled since 2003.

"Every single step away from the traditional dancehall has made it worse. The music is internationally driven by the producers and the artistes, and, if they aren't killing the game, then the people down the line of the food chain are not gonna eat the food that they're supposed to. The style of the music is everything," he said. However, he stressed that "deejays are doing the best they can with the role models that they have".

Following his 26 years of musical accomplishments, YRush said he will be passing on all his knowledge in online courses where he teaches others how to remix, mix, and master music on his online site remixking.net.