Answele shows the World his skills with the release of his first official EP “In Control”. Of course we have the Grammy Winning Producer Young Pow at the production. He followed Answele’s career from his first steps in the musical business. We had the pleasure to find out about this young and gifted singer in 2017. Then we had the opportunity to work in association with Young Pow to bring him on tour in Europe in 2018 as I-Octane open act Artist traveling in Countries as Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland.
Bunny Wailer, last member alive of the historical musical group ‘The Wailers’ is dead few days ago in Kingston. The lost of the beloved singer is so hard to accept for the whole reggae community around the Globe. It seems as an era is ending up now… But we know his legacy will live eternally.
Today we have interviewed a new rising star from Jamaica: J Written. The young Artist Jason Rasheed Wright, stage name J Written, was born in 1994 and he was destined for musical prowess from an early age.
Growing up with his mother, father and two sisters, J Written’s life was blighted by financial instability and constant moving around various areas of Kingston, Jamaica.
“I was unable to socialise with my peers because of my parent’s fear of negative influences,” says Written.
“I was forced to stay inside the house with my sisters. This is how I found out writing and reading was an easy way to escape the grey reality. I wrote daily journals and personal articles on the wall of my homes.”
Writing poems, speeches and essays helped sharpen the tools he uses today. He joined the debate team at his high school Bridgeport High, which gave him the confidence he needed power.
He later discovered a talent for dance even forming a squad at the age of 16. The troupe known as the Acez Dancers took Kingston by a storm.
Despite those moves, he felt there was something missing in his life. He was still writing but dancing and writing was not enough.
I was also studying for my flying pilot’s licence and completed the first part of my training but was unable to complete the process due to economical pressures.
So, at the age 18 he started to fiddle with his old broken-down computer at home, selecting and building beats. Then he started to sing on his own riddims putting a title to one of his productions called “Top Floor Music”.
His passion for music continued: he was often visiting various prominent studios in Jamaica, including JAMINS in Trench Town.
JAMIN studio Fifth Street Trench Town has become his camp where his career began to take a new socially conscious shape. His first notable release was as lead singer with the Right Band. The track is entitled “Remember December”, which focuses on the economic stress of Christmas. Next up he got a major release featuring international Recording Artist Alborosie entitled “Fear to Understand” that gives a different highlight in J Written’s musical journey.
Gege Vibes: Hi Written what’s up? At what stage is your musical journey?
J Written: I just observe what I see happening around me, then I transform it in lyrics of my songs. I’m also lucky cause right now I have a support team who is managing me and I’m trying to achieve the highest standard in what I do.
G.V. About highest standards in your career, what about your experience with Bunny Wailers? How did it start ?
J.W. We became connected through King Calie and Dre Tosh when they brought bredrens who I was with at that time to his museum to rehearse for a couple of shows. Over time his son and I became close, but the family did not know me as a singer, I was just the bredren around the musicians. Now they appreciate my artistic skills as well.
G.V. : What do u think is the biggest result you actually achieved during your career then?
J.W. To be honest I’ve done so much in my career, but the real highlight of all if it was when someone reached out to me saying that somehow I helped to make his burden lighter. He just listened to one of my songs. I think that’s what all artists should aim for. It means to make a positive impact on someone’s life.
G.V. You just talked about positivity. In your opinion why is it important for the new generations to keep doing positive reggae music?
J.W. I believe in all the positive music, no matter what the genre is. I found over time that I express myself better using Reggae, but whatever style is used to bring across the message is a thumbs up for me.
G.V. What’s the message beside your single ‘Fear to understand’ featuring Alborosie? And how was to collaborate with him?
The song “Fear to understand” is showing the people who believe that they are a failure that they have the power every day to change the way they look at themselves.
G.V. Are you planning to release any official album?
J.W. Albums and more projects are always at the forefront of my mind, if I even tried to slow down and stop it would be like trying to bottle the sea. There’s lots more projects coming soon. I am currently in studios working on my EP due to be released early next year 2021. I generally just go with what my energy tells me.
Hailing from Westmoreland (Jamaica) Nerada Brissette, known with the stage name of Nerry, has been around since the mid-90s and performed at most of Jamaica’s major music festivals. Nerry not only sings, he’s also a player of various instruments. But there is no other instrument close to him than the “bass”, according to Nerry’s personal opinion. He’s currently working on his first album, which he is producing as his solo debut entitled “Call Me Nerry”. The singer toured in Europe, to be exact in Germany and Austria, back in 2008 with Freddie McGregor. He’s been touring the USA since the beginning of the pandemic early this year. Nerry is the perfect representation of reggae music and its demands. He maintains an authentic sound and never fails to captivate his audience. His soulful, smooth and raspy vocals are rarely heard those days. His last single “Babylon have the nerve” featuring Gentleman and Freddie McGregor is actually getting a great forward all over the World. We have interviewed him.
Gege Vibes: How did u approach to your musical journey?
Nerry: Music is in my blood as long as my father is also a singer and a player of instruments. It all started singing in church, where I also learnt to play different musical instruments. In the high school I sang with a group called “Soul 4 Soul” then I started singing at the hotels and at the end in the concerts.
GV: It was a long race. What do you think is the biggest result you actually achieved during your artistic career?
N: The greatest thing I’ve achieved is the vocal respect I got wherever I performed and also the immaculate comparison I get between other great international vocalists. It’s an honour for me.
GV: You are a reggae singer. Why in your opinion is it important for the new generations to keep doing reggae music?
N: Throughout the years reggae has been the best way to uplift spirits. Personally, it means the expression of myself to the fullest. That’s why the new generations need to keep this musical genre alive. I believe the whole World gravitates around reggae music.
GV: What’s the message beside your new successful single ‘Babylon have the nerve’ featuring Freddie McGregor and Gentleman?
N: The message in this song is all about the oppression we face for years from the Government in terms of legalization of Marijuana.
GV: I could feel this topic really touchd you. What are other topics you prefer singing about?
I don’t really have a favorite topic. I just write and create what comes to my mind depending on the way it makes me feel.
GV: Are you planning to release any album and in general what are your future projects?
N: I have an EP ready and we were setting up to release it in December 2020 along with two album release parties but the whole plan got delayed due to the corona pandemic. It’s a 6 track album titled “Call me NERRY” though. My team also realized 4 official videoclips out of the six tracks that I will be launch online very soon.
Classe 1993, F.U.L.A., al secolo Oumar Sall, è un italo-senegalese, ultimo di 12 figli. Arriva in Italia a sette mesi con la madre, fuggendo dalla propria patria. Cresce in Calabria, diviso tra la famiglia affidataria e la madre biologica Fatima. Multiformità e Multiculturalismo rappresentano i concetti integranti della sua evoluzione umana e musicale: dalle radici della musica africana agli intenti dei vari cultori Blues, Soul, Reggae, Rap, Jazz, Pop e Rock.“La mia Africa richiama gli aspetti rudimentali della vita, i sentimenti primi e immutabili dell’essere umano, come la gioia e la nostalgia”, dichiara.
Oumar racconta il suo vissuto traducendolo in tematiche oggettive nelle quali ognuno possa riconoscersi e rispecchiarsi. “Nelle mie canzoni si ritrovano spensieratezza consapevole e voglia di rivalsa perenne”, ci spiega.
F.u.l.a. può essere collocato in un ampio movimento culturale ed artistico come quello dell’Afro-Punk. Fra le varie esperienze, ha partecipato all’attivismo nelle università italiane con il “Festival delle Generazioni” ed al programma TV “Siamo Noi” su TV 200 per lo “Ius Soli” nel 2019. Nel 2020 Oumar firma un contratto discografico con l’indie label “La Pop”. Inoltre, prende parte al progetto di crew “Equipe 54” collaborando con alcuni artisti come Tommy Kuti, Yank Real e Slim Gong. 3 mesi fa è uscito il suo singolo ufficiale “Maldafrica”, che ha riscosso un ottimo feedback online.
Lo abbiamo intervistato per voi…
Come è stato il tuo approccio con l’Italia e l’integrazione in questa Nazione?
Non è stato traumatico. Sono cresciuto in provincia in un paesino di pochi abitanti in cui eravamo gli unici neri. La gente del paese ormai mi vuole bene, anche se ho dovuto lottare contro alcune menti becere ed un po’ di discriminazione subdola. Ad ogni modo sono sempre riuscito a farmi rispettare.
Hai origini africane. Quanto le tue radici hanno influito anche sul tuo stile musicale e sulla realizzazione della tua carriera?
L’Africa influenza ogni singolo artista o genere musicale. Quando si parla di musica moderna, spesso, tralasciamo che le origini della stessa provengono dall’Africa. Nel mio caso è ancora più evidente.
Quando hai capito che volessi fare musica in maniera professionale come lavoro e non solo come passione?
In realtà è stato da sempre il mio obiettivo. Da piccolino guardavo Michael Jackson in Tv e ripetevo a mia madre che un giorno sarei diventato come lui. (Ride)
Progetti futuri dopo gli ultimi singoli che hai lanciato online? Hai in cantiere anche un album?
Il mio progetto futuro è riuscire a far musica ogni giorno con costanza e dedizione. Solo dopo potrò pensare ad un disco e ad altri progetti. Nel mentre, però, credo che faremo uscire qualche Ep e parallelamente sto lavorando con il mio collettivo Equipe 54 a molte canzoni.
Quali sono le tematiche più presenti nei testi delle tue canzoni?
Mi piace variare con i topics perché racconto sempre la mia vita. Non ci sono tematiche specifiche nelle mie canzoni: dipende dalle mie esperienze e da cosa vuole comunicare la mia anima in un determinato momento.
Sei stato definito un esempio di resilienza. Potresti spiegare a tutti il perché?
Probabilmente perché non mi sono mai tirato indietro nella vita, anche quando tutto va male non perdo mai la voglia di sorridere e di mettermi in gioco. Non mi piace vivere per nulla. La resilienza è uno status mentale, difficile da attuare ma soddisfacente.
Courtney Diedrick, also known as “Bamdrumz”, is the official drummer for Damian Marley. We meet him in O2 Academy Leeds (Uk) during Stony Hill European Tour 2018. Straight from Jamaica, and exactly from Brown’s Town (Saint Ann), “Bam” informs us about the legendary drummers who inspired him during his journey: Carlton Barrett from Bob Marley & The Wailers, Sly from Sly and Robbie, Squidly Cole from Stephen Marley, Deleon White also known as Jubba from Dubtonic Kru and many more. He feels good to inspire the new generations today, especially in his community, because he believes this is the meaning of playing music.
Secondly, he underlines the attachment with his family and to the brothers John, Rayon and Sean. All his siblings are musicians and they helped in molding his career prior to furthering his studies at Edna Manley College of Music in Kingston. His older brother John met Damian in Montego Bay and later introduced Sean aka “Young Pow” for the audition as keyboardplayer, who surprisingly saw that drummers were also being auditioned, so he passed on the news to “Bam”. His history began much earlier when he started playing in church at age of 16, later on in Hotels, teaching music in high school and now touring the world with “Jr Gong”. He still remembers his level of anxiety when he went to audition to play and he could see a long line of drummers from around the world waiting for their turn. Despite the insecurities of the moment, Courtney “did his thing” and reached the goal. He discussed the importance of never forgetting that positive vibration that musicians should feel when playing their instruments. He tries to treat every opportunity he gets to play with passion as if it was his first time playing the drums: “Playing with Damian is a great feeling that will never leave me because the moment you lose that feeling, you lose everything”.
Then we talk about the most beautiful memories of his tours in the world: “We have a lot of highlights and many other stuffs that have happened on the road, but to visit the Mother Land Africa was a huge deal for me, it was always my dream even before I started touring.”. “Bam” tells us how much his origins have influenced even his style of playing. Reggae is a music full of feelings that reminds us of the past, for example slavery: “You can feel emotions in reggae – he continued – and my playing has a lot to do with my roots and my culture”.
Courtney is the Grammy Drummer of this year with “Stony Hill” Album. Nicely, he gives thanks to all the fans for it sharing with them his happiness about this result:“I rememeber all the nights that we spent in the studio with my crew without getting any sleep and now this great joy finally pays off”.
(Photo Credit: @itseltonbrown)
He didn’t work only with Damian Marley but with several international artists as Mick Jagger, Nas, Kieth Richards, Eric Clapton, Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Playing for Change P.F.C., I-Taweh, Jah Cure and many more. Playing for Change is a project between street musicians and mainstream ones from all over the World. This group is the perfect example to show people we are more alike than different and it doesn’t matter our culture or the color of our skin. Reggae music is a universal language.
One of Courtney’s future projects is to give more light to the jamaican drummers featuring them on a documentary. Another project is about his productions that are in a pause right now, but will be out soon.
Passion, talent, determination, attitude, gratitude and humbleness are just some of the features that makes Diedrick so popular and respected in the actual worldwide musical scene. We are waiting to hear his riddims and to appreciate him in the role of producer as well.
(Photo Credit: @itseltonbrown)