Boomshots

Category: Foundation

Classics

  • Rygin King and U Roy Collab on “Stop That Train”

    Rygin King and U Roy Collab on “Stop That Train”

    New Generation Meets Foundation

    “Me get a dream last night,” Rygin King sang, flashing across the stage at Reggae Sumfest 2018, “and the dream tell me things ah go change.” At that precise moment, three years ago this July, the young reggae star’s life changed forever. Rygin was chosen as one of three Montego Bay artists to headline Dancehall Night at Sumfest, Jamaica’s premiere music festival. To see his face on posters all over his hometown meant so much, especially in a year when MoBay was placed under a state of emergency due to an upsurge of violent crime in the city known as a picturesque tourist mecca. “A long time man a suffer,” Rygin sang in the early morning sunshine and the people felt it. “And all now, tings still a di same / Mi just wan’ yuh have faith fi mi / When mi touch di road Daddy pray fi mi.” Following that landmark performance, Rygin emerged as one of the hottest new artists in Jamaica, flooding the streets with big songs like “Powerful,” “Star Life,” and “Clean,” and booking lucrative gigs in the U.S. and Europe. On his 2021 release “Stop That Train,” Rygin collaborates with the late great Daddy U Roy, a dancehall pioneer who took sound system slang to the top of the charts back in 1970. Besides showing the power of his vocals on the historic collab, Rygin also connects dancehall’s new generation with its foundation. “It’s a great feeling to collaborate with a legend like Daddy U-Roy,” says Rygin King. “Not many people end up on a track with one of their elders, so I want to give thanks to everyone who made it possible… big up Trojan Jamaica and U-Roy. ‘Stop That Train’ is a classic song that is part of our culture.” Video After The Jump…  (more…)

  • Blessed Earthstrong Super Cat

    Blessed Earthstrong Super Cat

    Big Up The Wild Apache Every Time

    On this day in 1963 a dancehall legend was born in the Kingston neighborhood of Cockburn Pen. The child of a Black mother and an Indian father, William Anthony Maragh was given the nickname Wild Apache by his lyrical mentor Early B the Doctor. He is best known to reggae and hip hop fans the world over as Super Cat. Stylistically, Cat’s DJ style was strongly influenced by the late great Daddy U Roy, a dancehall pioneer who also hailed from Cockburn Pen. Cat honed his skills on sound systems like Killamanjaro, mentoring future champions like Ninjaman. In the early 90s he relocated to New York City where he established his own Wild Apache label. While chilling at the Bronx nightclub Act III, Cat met rap superstar Heavy D and they would eventually collaborate on classics like “Big and Ready” and “Dem No Worry We.” Super Cat would continue to dominate the reggae/hip-hop crossover zone with early ’90s joints like the “Ghetto Red Hot” remix and the “Dolly My Baby” remix that shed an early light on a young up-and-coming Jamerican MC known as Biggie Smalls. The last time we reasoned with Sean Paul he made sure to give major props to Cat, who was a major influence on his own lyrical flow. (Little-known fact: Rob Kenner owes his whole 17-year VIBE career to Super Cat since his first article for the magazine was a feature-length profile of Super Cat, it’s only right that we Today we pay maximum respect to a ghetto youth and lyrical genius who blazed a trail for Jamaican music worldwide. Check out some of our classic interviews with Mr. Cat over the years. Respect in all aspect. Video After The Jump…  

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  • Reasoning with Daddy U Roy The Original Dancehall Teacher

    Reasoning with Daddy U Roy The Original Dancehall Teacher

    Paying Respect to a Pioneer of Deejay Music

    The race is not for the swift, but who can endure it. And Jamaica’s foundation deejay Daddy U Roy is still setting the pace. Ewart Beckford, O.D., known to lovers of Jamaican music as U-Roy aka Daddy U Roy the Teacher, passed away last night at the age of 78. As a pioneer of Jamaican deejay music, aka toasting, aka the birth of dancehall, U Roy’s impact on popular music worldwide cannot be overstated.

    In the video for Rah Digga’s “Imperial,” Busta Rhymes shakes his locks into the camera and proclaims that “This station rules the nation with version.” Ardent students of reggae roots will recognize the line as a direct lift from “Rule the Nation,” a musical blast from 1970 that forever changed the soundscape of Jamaica, sending tsunami-sized ripples out from the little island that rocked the world. Never before had an instrumental “version” of a popular song been combined with straight-from-the-dancehall microphone toasting to create a hit single. Working with legendary rock-steady producer Duke Reid, a smooth-talking called U Roy scored not one but three big tunes. “Wake The Town” and “Wear You to the Ball” completed U Roy’s six-week lock on the top three positions in the Jamaican charts, and proved that deejaying (or, as Yankees would rename it, rapping) was here to stay.  Interview Continues After The Jump… (more…)

  • Watch The Documentary ‘Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes’

    Watch The Documentary ‘Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes’

    New Doc Tells the Truth About Jamaica’s Recording Industry

    Lee “Scratch” Perry has seen it all. The notoriously eccentric reggae producer, vocalist, and visionary has created classics with artists ranging from Bob Marley & The Wailers to The Clash and The Beastie Boys. A literal living legend, he may be the only person on earth to have collaborated and quarreled with such iconic Jamaican producers as Coxsone Dodd, Joe Gibbs, and King Tubby—and outlived them all. When he burned his own Black Ark studio to the ground in 1979, people called him a madman, but Scratch just has his own way of doing things.

    One rainy night in the English countryside, the British filmmaker Reshma B sat with Scratch in a spooky old mansion, interviewing the man who’s also known as The Upsetter, The Super Ape, and Pipecock Jackxon for her film Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes, which has its worldwide debut today on Quincy Jones’s Qwest.TV and Jay-Z’s Tidal. Video and Full Story After the Jump…
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  • Buju Banton’s ‘Til Shiloh’ Marks 25 Year Milestone

    Buju Banton’s ‘Til Shiloh’ Marks 25 Year Milestone

    Reasoning With The Gargamel On The Making of a Classic

    Before Buju’s landmark album Til Shiloh was released in 1995, he stopped by the VIBE offices to give me a preview. We shut the door of my office, popped a cassette in the stereo, and burned a spliff in the middle of the day while I heard songs like “Untold Stories” and “Til I’m Laid to Rest” for the first time. Songs like “Champion” and “Murderer” were already dancehall anthems, as was the late Garnet Silk’s “Complaint,” which Buju had enhanced with his raggamuffin DJ flow. As we wrapped up the listening session it became clear to me that Buju had created a timeless classic. A quarter of a century later, Buju has gone over many hills and valleys and he’s still standing strong. He appeared on the cover of VIBE in celebration of his long-awaited album, Upside Down 2020, which has since been nominated for a Best Reggae Album Grammy Award. And today Til Shiloh, recently certified gold by the Recording Industry Institute of America, marks its 25th anniversary with a deluxe reissue that features three exciting new tracks. In honor of the occasion, here is the converstion we had on that day back in 1995.  Interview After The Jump… (more…)

  • “Dreams To Remember” Happy Birthday Toots

    “Dreams To Remember” Happy Birthday Toots

    Memories of A Legend On His Earthstrong

     

    “Ready?” asked the drummer. “Yes sir!” Toots Hibbert replied.

    The year was 1968, and Toots and the Maytals were about to make history at Federal recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica.

    The drummer, Winston Grennan of Beverley’s All-Stars, counted off “1, 2…” and the band began to play a brand new sound. The fast-paced ska beat that took Jamaica by storm in the early ’60s had given way to a slower, sweeter sound known as rock steady around 1966. But on this day, the Maytals — a vocal trio comprising Toots and his friends Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” Mathias — were cutting a song called “Do the Reggay.”

    Where rock steady songs were more delicate and romantic, the reggae beat was raw and muscular.

    “I want to do the reggay with you,” Toots sang, his powerful voice cutting through the rhythm.

    “Yeah yeah!” Raleigh and Jerry harmonized.

    “Is this the new dance?” Toots went on. “Going around the town?” As soon as their song hit the streets, everybody in Kingston town wanted to do the new dance too.

    Toots said the name was inspired by Jamaican slang for girls you see on the street. “From streggae to reggae,” he explained.

    If you can sing a song that spawns an entire genre, that’s something. But if that genre goes on to impact global culture for the next half a century or so, you must truly be something special, someone astonishing. “Reggae has gone around the world now,” Toots told me in 2016. “And I never copyright it. If I had charged like a few cents, one cent, I would be a millionaire now.” Full Story After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Dennis Brown “No Man Is An Island” PREMIERE

    HEAR THIS: Dennis Brown “No Man Is An Island” PREMIERE

    Unreleased Classic off Fatis Tapes In The Oven Vol. 2

    When a young Dennis Emannuel Brown made his way to Jamaica’s legendary Studio One, he sang songs that laid the foundation for his legacy as the Crown Prince of Reggae. One of the earliest gems he cut for Coxsone Dodd was “No Man Is An Island,” a powerful single that became the title track for his 1972 album of the same name. A quarter century later D. Brown remade the tune for the late great producer Philip Fatis Burrell. Backed by the Firehouse Crew, Dennis Brown sounds older and wiser and he delivers lyrics of truth that have stood the test of time. This crucial mid-’90s update has never been released before, but thanks to producer Kareem Burrell it will now see the light of day on Fatis Tapes In The Oven Vol. 2. With this important reissue series, Remus carries on his father’s legacy while sharing beautiful music with the world. Give thanks.

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  • Beres Hammond’s Mission: “To Shed Some Happiness In Some Dark Corners Of Your Mind”

    Beres Hammond’s Mission: “To Shed Some Happiness In Some Dark Corners Of Your Mind”

    Jamaica’s Number One Soul Man Speaks On His New Album Never Ending

    There’s an old saying that “Music alone shall live.” With that in mind, the title of Beres Hammond’s latest album rings true, even if the man who makes these amazing songs—as he has done for decades on top of decades—is in fact a mere mortal. The release of a new Beres Hammond album is always cause for celebration, which explains our joyous mood today. One of the greatest singers and songwriters ever to emerge from Jamaica, Mr. Hammond has kept us waiting for six years since his last studio album, One Life, One Love, The wait will be over at midnight tonight with the release of Never Ending, a remarkable 14-track set that ranks with the finest work, from sweet lovers’ rock (“Hold You Till It Hurts”) to truths and rights (“Cry Freedom”) to the delightful jazz-tinged vibes of the title track. The musicianship is first-rate as usual—the finest players of instruments always come together when a true legend is in session—and with Bulby York on the mix how can you lose? During an exclusive interview with the Reggae Girl About Town, Beres spoke about all the singles released so far, including the rousing “Land of Sunshine” and “My Kinda Girl.” For anyone who’s ever wondered exactly what Beres’ type of girl is, Reshma B got the answer in this wide-ranging heart-to-heart conversation. Beres and RGAT also spoke about the song “I’m Alive,” which prompted some interested reflections on the artist’s legacy. “That’s what I think I’m sent here for,” Beres revealed. “To shed some happiness in some dark corners of your mind.” And then, as he often does, Beres shifted from reflective to jovial. “One time somebody asked me, what you want to be remembered as Beres?” He recounted his reply with perfect comic timing. “Mi say, ‘Remembered as? I want you remember me now!’” After a big laugh, Beres added. “If you should ever think of Beres, let’s say Beres not around. Just remember one ball of happiness and joy. A bundle of joy, of course through the music.” Never Ending drops tomorrow. While you wait, check this very special reasoning. “We nah talk no foolishness!” Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • Tetrack: Never Too Late to Get Started

    Tetrack: Never Too Late to Get Started

    Classic reggae album sees reissue, featuring early work of Carlton Hines

    Forty years have provided more than enough perspective to confirm the name Augustus Pablo as a standard bearer in the world of dub reggae. With a catalog of over 40 albums and 200 singles, Pablo rates among the great artist-producers (musicians who ran their own recording sessions versus being strictly financiers or executives). Despite his stature, Pablo was not a prolific producer of full-length vocal LPs, so his handful of efforts in that format are significant. His Hugh Mundell album Africa Must Be Free By 1983 has rightly achieved iconic status among reggae LPs. Tetrack’s lesser-known Let’s Get Started, recorded at the same time with many of the same musicians, matches Africa Must Be Free By 1983 artistically and arguably surpasses Mundell’s album in terms of the songwriting. This is due largely to the contributions of Carlton Hines, whose later writing credits would include Gregory Isaacs’ “Rumours.” Story Continues After The Jump…
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  • HEAR THIS: Dennis Brown Special DJ Center Earthstrong Mix

    HEAR THIS: Dennis Brown Special DJ Center Earthstrong Mix

    Tunes, versions and dubs from the Crown Prince

    In honor of what would have been Dennis Emmanuel Brown’s 60th birthday this past Wednesday, February 1st, the homie DJ Center put together a crucial megamix that goes heavy on classic rub-a-dub era. We’re pleased to share it with you to provide some heartical vibes for your weekend and beyond. Here I Come again! Audio After The Jump…
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  • HEAR THIS: Willi Williams ft. U-Roy “Miss Cutie Cutie”

    HEAR THIS: Willi Williams ft. U-Roy “Miss Cutie Cutie”

    Foundation Artists In Action

    Singer-songwriter Willi Williams’ 1979 hit “Armagideon Time” is forever enshrined in the reggae canon. Perhaps the most famous song on Studio One’s immortal Real Rock rhythm, Williams’ original was covered by seminal UK punk band The Clash that same year. Now the foundation singer has teamed up with the godfather of Jamaican deejays, U-Roy, and the Studio One house band the Soul Vendors for a new single “Ms. Cutie Cutie,” released through Williams’ own Drum Street label. This contemporary lovers rock track is a combination version of Williams’ “Natural Beauty,” both of which are available from all major digital distribution services and will be included on a full length release later this year, all backed by the Vendors. “My first recording was ‘Calling’ at Studio One in the late 1960s, and the Soul Vendors were Mr. Dodd’s house band at the time, working with every major act and helping create the Jamaican song book,” Williams explained. “The Vendors played on tracks from my Studio One album Armagideon Time, but this was the first time since then that we got in the studio and really worked together. I’ve been friends with U-Roy since the early 70s but we’ve never recorded together.” Audio After The Jump… (more…)

  • Reasoning with Jack Scorpio: “Good Music Come In Like The Bible”

    Reasoning with Jack Scorpio: “Good Music Come In Like The Bible”

    Heartical Words of Wisdom From the Founder of Black Scorpio Sound System And Record Label

    Among the many icons, legends and superstars we were able to link up at Irie Jam’s recent 23 anniversary celebration concert was elder statesman Jack Scorpio of Black Scorpio sound. A giant in the industry and among men, this powerful pioneer has had his hands on the careers of a cornucopia of crème de la crème cultural current creators from Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs to Garnet Silk and Luciano to Beenie Man, Buju and Mega Banton to Capleton, Bounty Killer, Barrington Levy and Shabba Ranks of Jamaica’s Order of Distinction.  As a man who has launched legacies and banged out hits with the best of the best, Jack Scorpio knows a thing or two about the rules of engagement in the love and war of Dancehall and Roots and Culture Reggae. “My history too long fi talk,” said the tall man dressed in full white—but with a bit of perseverance, we convinced him to give it a try, and he took the time to share his insights with the BOOMSHOTS TV cameras.

    Jack Scorpio doesn’t come out to events often, but he was pleased that he attended Irie Jam’s 23rd anniversary and had positive vibes to share, especially of rising sun, Jahmiel, who he wants to work with, and the things Jahmiel had to share in terms of critiques of the current Dancehall culture. Scorpio likened today’s Dancehall to destructive drug dealing and called for balance. “Good music come like the bible,” he says, and it’s time for artists, and the selectors who play the chunes, to take it to the next level and make immortal music. Turn on and tune in as Jack Scorpio reasons on Dancehall dimensions, trends on the changing winds, and why hit songs with stamina and staying power solidify like Holy Scripture. Videos After The Jump… (more…)