In 2004, singer Fanton Mojah burst onto the scene with a poor people's tune called "People Hungry." This song supported the ghetto youth who were under stress and pain over the most basic need - food. "People Hungry" made the connection with people all over the world and Fanton Mojah has continued his defense of the poor and needy. Being relatively new on the scene, Fanton Mojah's full impact is still in development. We do know that this artiste has already had significant impact, but his future path can be related through his music origins, his family life, and his musical philosophy.
An early link with music for Fanton Mojah occurred when he was growing up in St. Elizabeth and visited Apple Valley Park for a dance. Apple Valley Park is in Maggoty, St Elizabeth and is surrounded by Jamaica's longest river - The Black River. At this dance, Professor Nuts and Papa San performed and left a lasting impression. Fanton commented in an interview: "The first artistes mi really hide and go watch - Professor Nuts and Papa San. I usual thief outa my house as a lickle youth go watch dem. I wonder if one day I go come to be like these persons wey mi like. Cyaan forget one of mi favorite songs dem time. Ya have the one wey (General) Trees say: ‘Minivan people control Jamaica, one driver a dozen conductor!'" Fanton further describes how he expanded his time in the street, by staying with his grandparents: "We lef gone a grandma and grandpa. We come to love the street. We love to know what going on in the street. With grandma and grandpa, those are the time we really get to go out and look to see wha a gwaan. Whether a dance or a party. Around Daddy, we can't lef the yard! Daddy have ya under strict rule." At present, Fanton's father is preparing land in St Elizabeth for proper farming. Fanton comments, "We try to put in an acre of banana now in St Elizabeth, mi an mi old man. My old man down dere cutting down the place now to start all of this farming. My old man is a man weh grow up inna de bush and we come see him as a powerful man." Fanton originally left the country for Kingston when an uncle made an offer for Fanton to do some work and earn some money. Upon moving to Kingston, Jamaica Fanton worked in a furniture refinishing shop where he sanded down furniture in preparation for stain and varnish. Fanton was always searching for contacts in the music business, so in his spare time he would pursue musical contacts. It was Papa Jaro's Dub Store that became a central focus. Fanton comments, "Kilamanjaro studio de near. Mi is a man who leave the business and waan know aritistes, so always pon de lookout. Lunchtime me stop sand down furniture and go look pon artists. Ya might see Leroy Smart pop on more time, Hammermouth, Ninja Man an' Garnet Silk." During this period, Fanton began singing under the name "The Mad Killer." He never recorded any formal releases under this name, but he did cut sound system dubplates. Under a later nickname of "Phantom," Fanton Mojah did begin recording songs in the studio. Close friend and singer Zareb (formerly known as "Singer Flasher") recalls Fanton's early visits to The Dub Store, "[Fanton Mojah] is a man love come a the studio. So the link made an' it real from that time." Fanton Mojah is a music lover and can track the history of artistes and sound systems. In a recent conversation, Fanton was able to site chapter and verse on the sound history and differences between Exodus Nuclear sound and Exodus 4x4 sound. Exodus Nuclear is run by Gary Exodus and his father Romie. This sound has been in operation in different forms for a number of decades. With a similar name, Exodus 4x4 is a completely separate sound run by Father Duss. Some of this knowledge comes from years of working with Kilamanjaro Sound. From the connection made at The Dub Store, Fanton would also move with "Jaro" sound and work with Jaro by setting up speaker boxes and running wires. A good portion of this day-to-day work was built on a passion for reggae music. Fanton comments that, "Music make the people dem feel free and secure their mind." The message in the music can also be controversial. There is strong disagreement on the issue of the production and sale of guns. Fanton was firm in his distain for the large companies that produce so many guns, like Smith & Wesson. Fanton commented, "Babylon need fe implement a ting would cut out war, violence, and crime by stop building guns, bombs, [that] make destruction. If I did have the power to lock down Smith and Wesson factory, I would lock it!" In the video of the Mojah tune "Corruption," a police is shown mashing up a vendor's fruit stand. We discussed how lyrics can be sensitive and if Fanton is cautious on how he addresses issues, "Mi a bun dem. A corruption a crack up pon dem. Ya can't stop the people dem food a sell on the roadside to help dem kids. If you don't sell it on the roadside, you build a nice place an' give them. Set up somewhere properly. Something convenient wey them can sell an' the youth can eat. Babylon system never really take time and set thing for the youth. Them start bun fire an' say mi really start get inna trouble for these things, but it natural. It cannot hidden under the plastic under the cellar." When listening to music by Fanton Mojah, you may hear him singing in his raspy voice, he may dj, and at times he may stop singing abruptly and talk for a section of a recorded song. In whatever form, Fanton has established a style that is based on a love of music and a distinct social consciousness. The direction from the start, was connected with that early anthem "People Hungry" and Fanton Mojah has continued moving forward with that essence of ghetto music.
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Ricky Villa, original owner of La Benz Sound System. LaBenz Sound, Selector, Jigsy I first met Jigsy in the mid 1990s when he was working as selector and mic man for Labenz Sound. The sound had just arrived in Cleveland, Ohio as an attempt to cool out from activities in Jamaica. Ricky Villa (Father LaBenz) had decided to make the move from the "LaBenz Corner" in Jamaica to Cleveland, bringing with him his right hand - Jigsy. When Ricky Villa was moving, you could count on seeing Jigsy. Well before he joined LaBenz, the very first sound that Jigsy worked with was Sharp Point. He then moved to a little community sound called Love Stone. His biggest break was when he left to go to a sound called Lionhouse. The next step brought him to LaBenz sound which was headed up by Sir Ricky Villa. As many Clevelanders know, Ricky Villa died tragically around the year 2000. The death of Father LaBenz created a challenge for future for LaBenz Sound. Jigsy commented on the passing of Ricky Villa, "Taking up music and jus' put on the turntable, just see Ricky Villa doing it. Couldn't move with that. Even now I play certain type of music an' it touch my mind and feelings, even my heart. One time my friend say, ‘What happen to you?' an I just say, ‘Cho! You wouldn't even understand.' It reflect remembering my friend standing up beside me playing music and mi a talk. Dem tings is a reflection sameway." In 2002 Jigsy left Cleveland for Jamaica. Some time passed and about three years ago, I started to hear about this selector in Kingston by the name of "Jigsy." Friends told me that this was Labenz's Jigsy, but I responded confidently in telling them that this was not the same Jigsy... but it was! Cleveland has a thriving Jamaican community and reggae music activities are plentiful, but we really have (arguably) not had any local/regional artistes buss big... until Jigsy. Jigsy has had a top ten tune with "Jigsy Dance," the dance itself is quite popular, Jigsy is the lead selector with Danga Zone's Jamaican Sound, as the selector for Danga Zone Jigsy has appeared at Fully Loaded, Elephant's Birthday Bash, Reggae Sum Fest (along with many others), he has led weekly dances with "Bembe Thursdays," produced new artistes music releases. I spoke with Jigsy about his move to Jamaica in 2002 and asked what his first move was. "I was single playing LaBenz. I never had no help. Mi just try to take mi career to the next level by playing the music an' match up with the rest of the selector in Jamaica. Ca' you know down there live fire with sound system and selector. You haffe really good to stand out. It cost mi a whole heap of night's rest. Mi nuh get to sleep. We party every night - 24 hours. We have events every night from Sunday to Sunday. Mi no have no time for anybody. No time." A key move was the connection with Danga Zone Sound and Jigsy provided some background on that first association. "It take a while, it was like a journey. Mi link up with them about 2003, going into 2004. Then comes a little change back in my life ca' I lose my best friend an' it take a whole heap from me fe get back pon track. Go through mi journey sameway and things don't really happen overnight. It's like this, I'm here in Kingston and those dudes are in Montego Bay. It's like three and one-half hours away from where I live. Them (Danga Zone) just create a sound. These friendly clash goin' on in MoBay. They want them sound to the next level. They want somebody who can deal with the sound the way they want. Them guy's talkin' to artristes. The artistes - which is my friend, New Kidz and Ninja Kid was there when all the men talkin' and say they want a selector. So mi flash right in them mind. They call me an' mi say, ‘Mi really don't want to play nobody's sound mi waan do mi own thing.' Mi take the bus from Kingston (to Montego Bay - home of Danga Zone Sound), big it up with the people. The first time them see me workin' sound inna MoBay, they say, ‘This really a different type of youth.' From there we jus' take it to a next level an' just bring it come a town where all the competition at. As a sound system ya have to have competition. We just match up with all the Kingston bad sound and be outstanding. From there Danga Zone jus' took off." Elijah Prophet by Rich Lowe 12/31/2008 Jamaican singer Elijah Prophet has built a solid foundation of reggae music singles over the past eight years. Now this Rastafarian youth who grew up with Garnet Silk, is ready to release his second album entitled "Soldier with a Cause." Elijah's first album was "King of Kings" and was released out of Germany on the Pow Pow Record label. This latest album offers a mix of reality lyrics and excellent musicianship as all tracks are performed by the six-piece roots band called The Uprising Band. In a recent interview, Elijah Prophet shared some of his experiences in recording his latest album with Tru Musik Records, "As soon as I came back from a European tour in 2007, the manager and the bass player from The Uprising Band came for me. They ask me if I'm interested an' I say sure! We start workin' from then. Soldier with a Cause album is different from the past album. All the riddims are not done by computer. I have the time to sing the songs. Things I don't like, I can take out of the song and redo the song again. I have the ability to do anything in the studio." The first single to be released is "Rainy Night In Summer." Although it sounds as though it may be a love song, it is a reality tune that describes two lovers hearing gunshots at night. These gunshots are from a neighbor's house and that neighbor has been killed by the police. The rain continues to fall as the two lovers pause to wonder who has died this night, so close to where they rest. To add to the moodiness of this track, this single also employs the atmospheric tenor saxophone of Dean Fraser. Elijah comments about the reality behind "Rainy Night," "It definitely portrays what happen in the garrison area, which we call ‘the ghetto.' Police tend to abuse a lot of innocent youth in the ghetto - not that every youth in the ghetto is innocent still. For instance, one man shoot after police, police will kill everyone in this side." The image of the neighbor lying in bed with his woman, hearing the gunshots, relates to a pattern of conflicting images in Elijah Prophet's music where he sings of "Johnny." We asked Elijah, "Who is Johnny?" "Johnny could be anybody. There's a Johnny who was a friend of mine who died violently. He wasn't a badman, just a hardworking guy who have a license gun and they kill him for the gun. All other "Johnny's" to me are anybody who try to do something different from the others. Johnny is someone who find himself in a sticky position at the moment." A prior single "Peace Party" also tells the story of the death of an innocent youth. "'Peace Party' was something I saw with my two eyes. These guys have wars for months, years. They say, ‘Let's sign some peace treaty.' The moment they sign the peace treaty, that's when everybody start to die. These guys say, ‘OK, now we can catch Mr. Johnny anywhere we want him because he think everything is OK.' That's how it go on and on and on." The Uprising Band has been together for five years. They work out of Rockfort, near Mountain View, by Kingston Harbour. Although this is a six-piece band, there are 30 or more people who comprise the Uprising "camp." In addition to the release of Elijah Prophet's "Rebel with a Cause," The Uprising Band has completed successful tours with singer Gyptian in Barbados and South America. The Uprising Band has additional albums coming out by Len Hammond, Easy Wayne, and a Dennis Brown tribute album by Fred Locks. Elijah says, "The Uprising Band is musically crazy. They have such genius. Everybody play their part, that's the nicest thing about The Uprising Crew." The Uprising engineer, "Volume C" provided his view on working with Elijah Prophet, "Elijah Prophet have a vibe - it natural. It's very easy for me to work with him ca' he's very experienced and he get a lot of exposure worldwide. There's a great energy, a nice spiritual energy." In closing, Elijah reflects (in present tense) on advice given to him by Garnet Silk: "Garnet is always a straight forward person. I love a person who don't play when it come to his work. Garnet always say, ‘Listen Elijah, no matter what - you have to do what Jah send you here to do.' An' I believe that 100% - rasta must be a rebel with a cause." Lord Sassafrass by Rich Lowe 2/27/2011 Jamaican recording artist Lord Sassafrass (Michael Johnson) was born in Maverley, Kingston, Jamaica. Sassafrass is best known as a dancehall Reggae dj with the Black Scorpio Sound System. On Black Scorpio Sound, Lord Sassafrass introduced the world to General Trees, the entire Horseman Crew, "keeping a dance" lyrics, Obeah lyrics, and great live dj clashes with artists like General Echo, Johnny Ringo, and Nicodemus. Sassafrass went on to record the top selling album "Pocomania Jump" on Black Scorpio Records, controlling the number one slot on the charts with "Poco Jump." He recorded other great songs like "Jamaica Way," "Murder She Wrote" (with General Trees), and the enormous hit "Step Up In Life" (with Barrington Levy). Sassafrass left a distinguished trail of recorded music and live dancehall sessions as he moved from Jamaica to New York, and to his present location in Canada. In the mid 1960s Sassafrass began his musical education with Dj Wicked in Spanish Town and on Chika Sound System, but really cut his teeth in the early 1970's on Soul Expert. Desmond, the owner of Soul Expert, recognized his early talent and introduced Sassafrass to the recording studio. Their first session in 1977 resulted in Sassafrass' first song, "The Story of Roots." Soon after Sassafrass began work with Lee Perry ("The Upsetter") and recorded the classic "Green Bay Massacre" on the Upsetter record label. Sassafrass continued to sharpen his skills in during this classic era of 70's Jamaican Dancehall at Bamboo Lawn, Three-Piece Lawn, and The Student Union at The University of the West Indies. In the 1980s, Lord Sassafrass worked with Emperor Faith, Socialist Roots, Virgo, Killamanjaro, King Majestic (A St. Thomas Sound with a young Supercat and Early B), Black Star, and New York sounds, GT High Power and Third World Sound. Being a school friend of Jack Scorpio, it was a natural for Sassafrass to join up with Black Scorpio Sound. At the Black Scorpio Yard at 30 Headley Avenue, Sassafrass kept the crowds jumping with lyrics to last well into the morning. Enter General Trees. Trees was an apprentice at Caymanas Park horse race track in Jamaica. With horseracing lyrics in abundance, Sassafrass and Trees worked in combination. Often one added harmony as the other dj'd, which brought something new to the dancehall. The duo also used two microphones simultaneously. This combination was exciting in the dancehall and attracted huge crowds that would block off roads entirely. And Sassafrass and Trees knew how to cultivate the crowd. At one dance, Sassafrass brought the excitement to a new level when he rode a horse into a dance clash with the great General Echo. Much of Sassafrass' musical history is seen in the live dance. Similar to the career of Brigadier Jerry, Sassafrass was entertaining in an era of live djs, where recorded music was secondary to the live dance. Sassafrass maintained his focus on the Thursday night gathering at the Black Scorpio yard. He gathered his Horseman Crew: General Trees, Echo Minott, Papa Screw, and Shuka Shine. "Reggaemusiclovinpeople" from all over were drawn to the sound and drank plenty of Heineken and Guinness throughout the night. Obeah is a form of black magic. Sassafrass became known throughout dancehall as the "Obeahman," introducing "obeah" lyrics into the dance. Sassafrass' area is Maverley and there are four or more Pocomania Churches throughout Maverley. In the early 1980's Sassafrass worked with Bunny Lee to record the self-titled "Lord Sassfrass" album. This entire album was recorded at King Tubby's Studio in Waterhouse, Jamaica with Jammy's as the engineer. As Sassafrass says, "King Tubby was there at all time, he never leave that studio." Jammy's went on to open his own studio, "Jammy'$." In the mid 1980's Sassafrass spent time in New York, while working on his second album "Pocomania Jump" for Black Scorpio (with the help of advance money from Byron Lee). While in New York, Sassafrass worked on the GT High Power Sound, Papa Moke, and Third World Sound. It was through these sounds that Sassafrass was exposed to artists like Carlton Livingston, Lone Ranger, Mikey Jarrett, Nicodemus, Lui Lepke, and Peter Ranking. Sassafrass and many of these artists kept the parties going until early morning at Galaxy Ballroom, The Starlight, Colonial Mansion, The Reggae Lounge, and The Biltmore. At The Pepper Box, Sassfrass clashed against Johnny Ringo countless times. Sassafrass comments, "Any time Ringo see me, him start dj against me. Mi kill that all the while." As his "Poco Jump" song was topping the charts in Jamaica, Sassafrass was able to be a dominant player in New York and Kingston simultaneously. As Sassafrass enters his fourth decade in reggae, he has earned the respect of his peers and even his enemies. For example, a long-standing competitor with Black Scorpio Sound is the great Killamanjaro Sound. In a 2011 interview, when asked about Black Scorpio Sound, Papa Jaro was first to mention Lord Sassafrass: "Sassafrass was actually the teacher for General Trees. He was very exciting and he could make some lyrics that could make you laugh and have fun!" Recently, Lord Sassafrass has released new tunes "Don't Wait Too Long," "Sassafrass.com," and "Swine Flu." In 2010, he toured Europe with Jack Scorpio and Echo Minott and is planning another European tour in 2011. His work today carries out the tradition he started almost forty years ago - a sound that is completely unique and his own. Rich Lowe WRUW Radio |
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