So we have ended another year where naysayers of Reggae music are shouting louder, "Reggae music is dead!" I am not one of them. Jamaica has, however, become irrelevant in promoting, breaking, and to a lesser extent, producing hit Reggae music.
The biggest reggae song for 2010, Hold You by Gyptian, was produced by Brooklyn-born multi-hit producer Ricky Blaze. Back in Jamaica, the musical production of our current multi-platinum Reggae act crashed.
It seems that reggae music production in Jamaica has become a business of the blind leading the blind in a dark locker room. No one has the common sense to just turn on the lights, as the electricity is still connected. In the stadium, however, the game that we created is still being played without us, and whenever someone else scores we get angry and spew venom of hatred like what is now being directed at French producer Bob Sinclar.
Here it is that a French House music DJ and producer has the love and respect for Reggae music to come to Jamaica, spend his own money and enlist the services of the best set of Jamaican musicians. He enlisted Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Robbie Lyn, Mikey Chung, Sticky Thompson, Nambo Robinson and Dean Fraser. He recruited artistes such as Shaggy, Queen Ifrica, Gary Pine and Steve Edwards. Bob Sinclar took his project to the world-famous Anchor Recording Studio in Jamaica, and with vision and direction he produced a perfect work of art called Made in Jamaica. His reward has been good sales and a Grammy nomination in the reggae category with the potential to also win. He has taken Reggae music which we have thrown away like old tarnished brass, and polished it up to show us the gold that still exists in Jamaica.
We have to start addressing Jamaican radio and start calling out programme directors who allow all the hype noise to make it unto the airwaves. Everyone is trying to be hip and play to the perceived market, but it is really a quick race to the bottom. The question is, who will have the guts and common sense to hit the brakes and then change course? The simple fact is that there is absolutely no hit song being broken in Jamaica because there is no longer any structure in place to set up and chart good music. The artistes and producers think that they are keeping up, but are really killing their own music before it can breathe by just piling releases upon releases. All the artistes are focused on becoming Stulla Stars but want Jay-Z success without a plan, a management team or an international single. How?
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