Upcoming Mixpak artist Popcaan stepped up for this year’s annual Sting in Portmore, Jamaica earlier this week, running through his biggest tunes (and some of this year’s biggest dancehall records): ‘Up Inna The Club’, ‘Clarks’, ‘Hot Grabba’, ‘Real Badman’, ‘Only Man She Want’, ‘Raving’ and of course ‘Clean’ with a full live band. It’s only a small glimpse of his talent; watch out for Popcaan’s Mixpak releases coming soon.
Popcaan at Sting
December 28th, 2011Smudge Riddim
November 29th, 2011
JA producer TJ, responsible for big riddims like Snapback and Bottle Party this year, not to mention Unfinished Business and Show Off from way back, has just dropped his latest: Smudge. This one is a nice slice of island pop, featuring voicings from Demarco, Laden, Bugle and this from Popcaan, ‘Party Shot’, another on-point party tune from the ‘Raving king’:
Q&A with Dylan Powe (Prodigal Entertainment)
November 8th, 2011
Head of Prodigal Entertainment, Dylan Powe is a stalwart of the Jamaican music scene – from working on legendary Kingston street party, Passa Passa, to managing one of the island’s brightest talents, Natalie Storm. Last year he produced and released the innovative Showa Eski, the first in a trilogy of riddims designed to (re-)unite West Kingston with London – featuring 6 vocals from Jamaica and the UK – namely Wiley, Lady Chann and Ward 21. A year later, the second installment, Global Gangsta, is just about ready to go and is undoubtedly set to build on the solid foundation of Showa Eski, tying together the threads of Jamaican influence worldwide.
Over G-chat, I asked Dylan a few questions about the thinking behind the trilogy and his vision for Prodigal:
Mixpak: So how are things looking for Global Gangsta – do you have a date for release yet?
Bubble Gum Riddim
November 7th, 2011
Brand new laid back riddim from Washroom Entertainment, (responsible for the Matrimoney riddim earlier this year) with a big cut from T.O.K., clearly taking influence from Stylo G’s UK hit, ‘Call Mi A Yardie’. Tifa also offers a breaking-up track, while Konshens is on a Rasta tip.
T.O.K – Yardie
Tifa – Nuh Want You No More
Konshens – Jah Love Me
Ward 21 – The Bubble Song
August 25th, 2011
Jamaican supergroup Ward 21 have announced they are making a new album, which to anyone on the dancehall circuit with a taste for forward-thinking, genre-smashing productions is Christmas come early. As a sneak peak, Kunley has been uploading some tracks onto his soundcloud, like ‘Bubble Song’, a minimal, bass-heavy dancehall track with hints of ‘Jafrican Ting’ and TOK’s ‘Bubble’. It’s another song to add to the list of big tunes named after bubbles. Watch their soundcloud for new uploads and news of their album.
Mixpak Interview Series: Tifa
July 20th, 2011
Tifa is one of Jamaica’s top young deejays, and singjays for that matter. When an artist gets full support from legendary production crew Ward 21, you know they’re gold. After her first tunes, ‘Crawny Gal’ and ‘Bottom of the Barrel’ blew up in Jamaica, she continued on climbing, joining forces with Timberlee and Natalie Storm to form JA girl group TNT, making singles with top producers like TJ, Stephen McGregor and Equiknoxx, not to mention supporting Ward 21 on tour.
Tifa has just joined the Mixpak family, voicing on a Dre Skull-produced Moombahton track set for release later this year, so we thought we’d get the 411 on her background, making it in Jamaica, working with Ward 21 and being a tomboy.
Mixpak: Tell us a bit about your background – did you grow up in a reggae household?
Well my growing up was in a mixture of down town (or what people would refer to as the ghetto), uptown (suburbia) and a lil’ North America. I did grow up in a reggae dancehall household. My grandmother had a local bar and restaurant and music was always apart of the happenings. I was always surrounded by music. When I went overseas to see my mom, she was an avid party goer, she would always be playing tapes and we would always be listening to music. Seeing her dress up and go out, also developed my fashion sense. My uncle also owned a popular record store in Toronto and I would always travel with him to Dynamic Sounds to purchase goods. Later on my mom met my stepfather, who was a producer. So let’s just say I couldn’t escape the music.
Showa Step
May 27th, 2011Wiley’s been making waves in Jamaica, with his latest ‘If I could’ with Ed Sheeran and his cut on the Showa Eski riddim a few months back, ‘It’s Wiley’. Now the second installment in the Showa Trilogy promised from Prodigal, the Showa Step riddim, is finally about to drop. This is a promo video for ‘Global Gangsta’ to give you an idea. It’s got Wayne Marshall, Einstein, Wiley and Joell Ortiz on it and need we say any more, it’s going to be huge. Prodigal describes the collab:
Three of the best spitters from across the world have their rhymes fused by an infectious chorus from one of dancehall’s hook-masters, and they are all declared global gangstas.
If you want to know more about the trilogy and Wiley, check the interview with Dylan Powe of Prodigal over at Seen.
Dre Skull Interview On Working in Jamaica and The Upcoming Vybz Kartel Album
March 17th, 2011
Mixpak label boss Dre Skull was recently interviewed by Erin MacLeod as research for a presentation at EMP Pop Conference. The entire interview has now been posted online and it gives a good look into Dre Skull’s views on collaborating across cultures and his creative approach to working on Vybz Kartel’s upcoming full length.
Read the full interview on Soundclash.
