CRS 2013 Edition
Magazine
Interviews Patrice Kabaka Pyramid Rootz Underground Jah Sun Pentateuch
Running order inside
16:00 Uhr 17:00 Uhr 18:30 Uhr 20:00 Uhr 21:45 Uhr 23:30 Uhr
Blaskapelle Übersee-Feldwies Ganjaman & Band Busy Signal & High Voltage Band Junior Kelly Patrice Elephant Man
12:00 Uhr 13:30 Uhr 15:00 Uhr 16:30 Uhr 18:00 Uhr 19:30 Uhr 21:30 Uhr 23:30 Uhr
Bradley‘s H Uwe Banton Ce´Cile Julian Marley Groundation Max Herre Ska-P Beginner
12:00 Uhr 13:15 Uhr 14:45 Uhr 16:15 Uhr 17:45 Uhr 19:30 Uhr 21:30 Uhr
Slonesta Martin Jondo solo & soundsystem Richie Spice & All Spice Band Wayne Wonder Alborosie & The Shengen Clan Cro Gentleman
Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr
eSKAlation Makeshift Innocence Stranger Cole & The Steadytones Dub Inc. Mellow Mark & Pyro with Guests Rootz Underground
13:30 14:30 16:00 17:30 19:00 21:00 23:00 01:00 02:45
Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr
DaHonk El Mago Masin & Wild Camping Ees Django 3000 I-Jahman Levy Turbulence & Warrior King SDP Pentateuch Ohrbooten
14:15 15:45 17:15 19:00 21:00 23:00 00:30 02:00
Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr Uhr
Mista Wicked & Riddim Disasta Iba Mahr Kabaka Pyramid Brigadier Jerry, Jah Sun & House of Riddim Horace Andy Protoje Kellerkommando Berlinski Beat
Programm채nderungen vorbehalten!
18:00 19:30 21:15 23:00 01:00 02:45
VemComigo // Afro-Brasil-Trommelgruppe New Morrow // Roots, Dub Haptic Invaders // Reggae, Dancehall Beatgarten Soundsystem // HipHop Jah Pinks // Roots, Dub Righteous Riddims // Roots, Dancehall
12:00 Uhr 13:00 Uhr 14:15 Uhr 15:30 Uhr 17:00 Uhr 18:30 Uhr 20:15 Uhr 22:00 Uhr
Lisa im Walde // Liedermacher Thundersoul Hipowa // Roots, Dancehall DJ Jah Mira // Roots, Dancehall Jam-Session // Freestyle Educated Bums // Hip Hop, Ska ZIO // Ska Dexico // Pop Kreba Sound // Roots, Dancehall, Hip Hop
12:00 Uhr 13:00 Uhr 14:15 Uhr 15:30 Uhr 17:00 Uhr 18:30 Uhr 20:15 Uhr 22:00 Uhr
Irie Roots Soundsystem // Roots, Dub, Drum‘n‘Bass Ohrange // Liedermacher Escandalos // Ska Daydreamer // Pop, Liedermacher Bob‘s Last Shirt // Ska VZI // Dancehall, Ska, Dub IPA-Soundz // Dancehall Tula Troubles // Ska
12:00 Uhr 13:00 Uhr 14:15 Uhr 15:30 Uhr 17:00 Uhr 18:30 Uhr 20:15 Uhr 22:00 Uhr
Three Lake Sound // Roots Tokksicd // Hip Hop Woa‘s Mas? // Bayerischer Rock Couch Rocker Crew // Hip Hop Sound Ambassadors // Roots, Dancehall, Ska Freudenhaus // Roots, Ska Clubstas // Ska Shake-A-Dem Sound // Reggae, Dancehall, Hip Hop
Programmänderungen vorbehalten!
15:00 Uhr 16:15 Uhr 17:30 Uhr 19:00 Uhr 20:45 Uhr 22:30 Uhr
Content
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40
Interviews
Photos
06 Patrice 16 Kabaka Pyramid 24 Rootz Underground 32 Jah Sun 40 Pentateuch
14 CRS Live 2012 #1 22 CRS Instagram 2012 30 CRS Live 2012 #2 38 CRS Impressions 2012 #1 46 CRS Impressions 2012 #2
Magazine
IMPRINT Publisher REGGAEVILLE.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Julian Schmidt julian@reggaeville.com EDITORS Justine Amadori Ketola Markus Hautmann Ursula ‚Munchy‘ Münch Valentin Zill PHOTOGRAPHERS Björn Fehrensen Carmen Janzen
Christian Gaul Christiane Nicely Daniel Ziegert / DZP eL Puru / Himages Michael Buchholz Robby - Reggaepicture.com Robert Hegenauer Tim Ullmann Thomas Mix ART DIRECTOR / LAYOUT Peter Pusch COVER PHOTO Christian Gaul
ADVERTISING Julian Schmidt Markus Hautmann advertising@reggaeville.com
http://www.REGGAEVILLE.com Copyright © 2013 Reggaeville.com All rights reserved; reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without prior consent or authorization from the publisher. Opinions and views expressed within Reggaeville Magazine are from contributors and are not necessarily shared by the publisher.
Interview
Patrice RISING OF THE SON
Interview Patrice
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SWEGGAE BY MARKUS HAuTMANN PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN GAUL He is one of the most versatile artists of the reggae fraternity who always refused to do what was expected from him. „I don‘t like to be put in a box“, Patrice says when asked about his enormous stylistic variety. On his new album Rising Of The Son which is about to be released on August 30, he surprises fans and critics alike by focusing on reggae music again. The Chiemsee massive will be one of the first to hear Patrice‘s new songs. What they have to expect, if Patrice is anxious about the response of the fans and why punk music has an influence at his musical work, he revealed to Reggaeville when we met him prior the his performance at the Summerjam in July.
You consider yourself be be a musician not „just“ a reggae musician. Now everyone is talking about your return to reggae and labels you as a „reggae artist“. Probably you are not so happy with that? No, no, that‘s absolutely okay. I really tried to get away from the cliché but at the same time there is no getting away. People will always label you. And if I have to be labeled then reggae is -of all the labels- the best one because it‘s a music that is always relevant to me and it has always stood for a certain posture, a certain attitude, a certain criticism towards the system whereas R‘n‘B and so stands for something else. So for me it‘s cool. I tried to invent a word called „Sweggae“. So I try to push that word in relation to myself because I‘m trying to take reggae somewhere else that‘s authentic for someone like me. And I‘m trying to make really cool reggae
like giving a new impulse to the whole thing. Something that adds to the culture rather than just take it from it. I‘m good with it. And at the end of the day it is what it is. Once you listen to the album - however you call it, I don‘t mind. To me the songs speak for themselves. It‘s just what it is. A label won‘t change it. To me there‘s just good or bad music. To me people like Bob Marley were no reggae musicians. They were just great artists. And the reason why they were so great is because they did not look at themselves as reggae musicians. They didn‘t think: „I‘m doing music just for Jamaica or the Caribbean.“ Bob‘s Catch A fire album was marketed like a Rolling Stones record and the actual musicians wanted to be on that level. They wanted to be as good as the greatest bands in the world. And better. And they were because they didn‘t limit themselves.
8 Interview Patrice
Interview Patrice
Why did Rising Of The Son become a reggae album? Because I felt it was time to do it again. After my first album I was labeled as a reggae artist. A lot of things that happened after was me trying to get away from that image because I didn‘t want to be put in a box. Because I want to have the freedom to do what I want to do without people asking: „Why is this?“ Obviously I disappointed a lot of people, at the same time I surprised a lot of people but I never wanted to do something where people say: „Oh, that‘s exactly what I expected“. So today -even if it was a hard road- I‘m very glad that I took that road because now I have the freedom to just show up with my guitar and sing acoustic songs for half an hour and then continue my show and still people are happy to listen to me and won‘t throw bottles <laughs>. I‘m glad to have that freedom.
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10 Interview Patrice
With Pentateuch, Rootz Underground, Kabaka Pyramid and Protoje there are four protagonists of the so called „Reggae Revival“ in the line-up of the CRS. Did this new movement influence you in your decision to return to reggae? I‘m a great believer of the fact that there‘s a vibe that goes around the world. We as artists, we all take from the same source. So when I decide to do reggae again and there are artists in Jamaica who decide to do real reggae again it‘s just because of the vibe that goes around the world. Seriously, I sometimes think: „That‘s what you should do next“ and then there‘s an artist doing it. I‘m not even surprised anymore when something like this hap-
pens because it‘s the vibe that goes around. It spreads to all artists. Everywhere. At the same time. So the Reggae Revival encouraged me, it influenced me. I was in Jamaica with Protoje and he took me around and showed me this new movement. And I was like: „Wow!“ I thought it was just one or two artists but no - it‘s a proper thing. Live music is back! That was very encouraging. And a proof that my feeling was right. Because of that the label „reggae“ is much nicer now. Apart from the Reggae Revival movement you are known to be also influenced and inspired by punk music. What is your relationship with punk?
Interview Patrice
Reggae was outside the box, punk was outside the box. Both were some kind of outcasts, rebels. So in England they found each other. There was a lot of exchange between these two scenes. You had great bands like The Clash or The Police who also influenced me. When punk got big, the punk labels were approached by the major labels but were reluctant to communicate. So they installed their own people at the major labels. So every major label had an employee who was a punk. When hip hop came up the labels didn‘t know what to do with NWA and stuff like that. So they said: „Whatever that is - give it to the punks. Maybe they know what to do with that freak music.“ When I started to produce with Arfmann, Kastrierte Philosophen, Buback, Yo Mama Records - they all came from the punk scene. The studios where reggae and hip hop happened all were ex-punk studios. And the people in the industry who pushed this music were punks. Arfmann, who was my mentor, also came from that attitude, from that scene. So
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punk is very important for all of us, simply because it was like a home for us. It gave us the chance to do something. That‘s why I feel so close to it. I love punk. I love the attitude. Do you also love being on festivals? Do you have time to catch some festival vibes? Or do you see performances at festivals as stressful work? It depends. Today for example it‘s relaxed. We‘re in Cologne, it‘s Summerjam. I know it very well. I came here as a visitor many times. It‘s fun. I‘m going to meet Protoje and a couple of other friends. It‘s a pretty easy atmosphere. The weather is perfect, the backstage area is cool to hang out, the food is great. It‘s real fun. Also there are a lot of people on the line-up that I like. So I‘m gonna watch a lot of concerts. But there are also festivals where I just don‘t have the time to do that. Only last week I had the worst experience ever. It was an absolute disaster.
12 Interview Patrice
What happened? I was stuck in Portugal. They took my off my connecting flight somehow, maybe it was the backlash of the strikes. Then the next flight was overbooked and we couldn‘t get to the next festival. They had to change all slots at the main stage, all technical things had to be changed. I had to fly with a private jet which was not only very expensive but also very small. So I couldn‘t take all band members with me. Additionally, on the way to the private airport the taxi had a flat tyre. When we finally arrived, the monitor boxes didn‘t work, the front of house digital set up didn‘t work, the light desk was completely wiped, there were not even any presets. The stage hands misinterpreted the technical rider. So I got the biggest backdrop in the world... It was a disaster! I had to play in a rush because we were so late and there was a strict curfew. Afterwards I had to read on facebook: „What the fuck was this?“, „Why so short?“. I had really done my best but everything was against me. Really frustrating. So on that day I didn‘t have the chance to enjoy the festival. But I will make up for this today and at the CRS and tear down the place.
Rising of the Son is not out yet so most listeners will hear the new songs for the first time. You don‘t know yet if the fans will like them or not. Are you nervous about the reception or is the excitement to finally present the new stuff the stronger feeling? The excitement, of course! I never go on stage with fear. When I go on stage I feel like a fish in the water. I just know what I‘m doing when I‘m on stage. I work with the vibes and I‘m fine. I can make a new song connect more with the people than an old song sometimes. Simply because if you work with the vibe you can play a completely new set and still people get a good concert experience. At least that‘s what I believe <laughs>. I don‘t have that kind of nervousness if people might like it. In fact, if I love it I know that people will love it, too. Because when I write a song like Everyday Good in my little room I know it will connect. Because it comes from my soul and hits the souls of the people. For sure. I know it. So I‘m not worried at all. Patrice
Interview Patrice
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LIVE #1 CHIEMSEE REGGAE SUMMER 2012 Photos by MICHAEL BUCHHOLZ & ROBBY - REGGAEPICTURE.com
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Album in stores 30.08.2013
Interview
Kabaka Pyramid SELASSIE SOULJAH
Interview Kabaka Pyramid
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KING KABAKA BY URSULA ‚MUNCHY‘ MÜNCH PHOTOS by DANIEL ZIEGERT / DZP Keron Salmon is better known as Kabaka Pyramid. While “Kabaka” is Ugandan for “king”, the pyramid represents the mathematical proportions of universal law, that is significant in the creation of the universe. As profound as the name are his lyrics, that he presents with a fusion of reggae, hip hop, and poetry. Get to know the artist who can’t exist without the rhyme, like “weed without THC, doctors without the PhD” as Munchy spoke to him about his hip hop roots, the tribe of the Reggae Revival, and the upcoming fruits of his labour.
Your first musical experience was at an early age, when you re-wrote lyrics of popular songs and recorded them on your mom’s tape deck. How old were you by then? It was a thing that me and my brother joked around with, a fun game. I was around 7 or 8 years old. Usually we turned the lyrics into some funny lyrics and sang them. That was the first time I really found myself being musically creative. Where did your musical journey lead you from there? I have always listened to a lot of music and loved it. As I grew older I got more into hip hop and dancehall, and then later on I got back to the roots reggae. When I was in high school we listened a lot to Sean Paul, like “Infiltrate” and stuff like that, Showtime riddim... And when we just got cable TV I saw people like P. Diddy, Mase. That was the commercial side you could watch on TV: Wu-Tang, Nas, Talib Kweli. It was never so much about the singing or melodies, but I really focused on lyrics, and that‘s why I loved hip hop so much.
Who were your favorite hip hop artists back then? Did they influence your own music? Definitely GZA and Inspectah Deck from the Wu-Tang Clan, but also Canibus, Big Pun, Nas, Common, even Eminem, when he just came out. He spit a lot of lyrics. Those were my favorites, and all of these men inspired me. How is the hip hop scene in Jamaica, a country in which reggae, dancehall, and gospel play such major roles not only in music, but even in everyday life? The hip hop scene itself is comparatively small and scattered, more like a underground scene. I remember back in 2002, 2003 we used to have certain hip hop shows, where we used to go and perform, but these were actually very few. Rappers linked up together, collaborated, and did songs, maybe one or two Jamaican groups made it on the radio. You had DJ Boyd, from the “Turntable Twins” Alric & Boy, who was a big hip hop advocate in the early days. He used to play hip hop on the radio, but nothing was really concrete or built
18 Interview Kabaka Pyramid
up for many years. Now you will find a lot of rappers like Nomad Carlos, Five Steez, TSD, SoL. They put out mix tapes, EPs and albums. It is still underground, but there are a lot more MCs now, and more attention is paid to them. Did you also start with hip hop tracks, or when did you fuse your music with reggae? It wasn‘t such a fusion in the beginning. First those were two completely different things. I even had two different names. I was “Ini Kabaka” doing reggae, and I was “Ronny Pyramid” doing hip hop. When you‘d hear me rapping, it would have sounded like I was maybe from New York or somewhere off the US east coast, because I never really rapped with a Jamaican accent. A few months before we released the Rebel Music EP in 2011 we decided, that we want to focus on one way, and fuse the two sounds together.
How did you move forward, even to the point where you decided not to rap American English anymore, but deejay in Patois? It was always something that I wanted to do, but for some reason I also wanted to keep the two genres pure. Even though Jamaicans like Kool Herc started it, the hip hop that I grew on, was with an American accent coming from the US. So I gradually learned the American accent. Literally when I produced the song Better Must Come with Koro-Fyah on a hip hop beat with him and me singing and deejaying hip hop type of lyrics, we realized that we can fuse the two genres. They don‘t have to be separate. It was during the production of that song, that we realized we just need to focus on this and put it out there with the Rebel Music EP.
Interview Kabaka Pyramid
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Another friend and artists, that motivated you to make more reggae is Protoje. You know each other for a while. How did you meet? How did the musical collaboration come up? I met Protoje through Jah9 around 2009. He got to know my music, and I used to send him even my hip hop stuff. He always tried to influence me to focus on reggae. In October 2010 there was a show, where he invited me to perform a couple of tracks with him. Protoje is always about unity. So even before we worked together, we already performed together. The vibes were great! We kept the link from there, sent each other stuff and eventually he joined me on the EP. By that time was there already the word of the Reggae Revival out there? Was something in the air already? Yeah man, definitely! It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t so much the Reggae Revival at that time, but it was the live music scene. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s what everybody used to refer to it as. Jamnesia started to bubble. We knew that there was so much talent, and a change was coming. Protoje was one of the main figures on the front line, because he broke into the mainstream as a roots cultural artist. That is not something that happened often within the last ten
years. Everybody knew that it was time to step up now. Protoje put out his album, Raging Fyah put out an album, people started touring, I put out my EP. It just kept moving from there.
20 Interview Kabaka Pyramid
Definitely! (laughs) Definitely! This time it‘s going to be more about the festivals. That is something I am looking forward to, also doing more live music shows. On your return, you will play on major festivals with 10,000s of fans attending. Are you excited about performing in front of such huge crowds? Or maybe even a bit nervous? (laughs): No, definitely excited. If my nerves should start to kick in, they didn‘t kick in yet. I‘m sure by then I‘ll be a little nervous, but that‘s just a part of the whole thing. Actually Protoje taught me this still: If nerves don‘t kick in, it means, you don‘t really love what you‘re doing. It is something that I grew to love. When your heart starts beating a little faster, you just want to do your best. You will also make a stop in Übersee to perform at Chiemsee Reggae Summer. What can the fans expect from your show there? It is rebel music! If I‘m in the right zone, I will always buss a little freestyle. On the Ready Fi Di Road tour a little rapping was also going on and the people loved it. I just like to feel the crowd, the vibrations, and just work with it. You can expect a lot of lyrics, conscious messages, a lot of fire. We come to burn down the place!
Your musical success has rapidly grown within the past three years, not only in Jamaica but also internationally. Last year you played your first shows in Europe. How did you experience your first tour overseas? It was a great experience! I remember after the last show we had a flat tire on the road when we were heading back to Mainz. I was thinking: “This is the first time actually that something went wrong on this tour.” Everything went so smooth. The venues had a lot of fans, some of them were packed with up to 400 people. Great, great vibes! Now you are just about to return to Europe. Are you looking forward to coming back?
What else would you like the fans to know? I always want to highlight the fact, that it is not only about music. We‘re also doing some farming projects out here. We are looking into alternative energy, and establishing self-sufficient communities out in the country. If someone is coming from abroad, or even leaves out of the city, we have places, where you can come and get healing done, organic foods. That is something we are working on with the Rastafari Youths Initiative Council, Manifesto, and all of these organizations. Interested people can get in touch via e-mail rastafariyouthcouncil@ yahoo.com. Kabaka Pyramid
Reggaeville Instagram from Chiemsee Reggae Summer 2012 by Bjรถrn Fehrensen
Interview
Rootz Underground RETURN OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Interview Rootz Underground
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ROOTZ & CULTURE BY JUSTINE KETOLA PHOTOS by CHRISTIANE NICELY
What can the fans expect from Rootz Underground at Chiemsee Reggae Festival? Fans should come to not expect anything at all and we will blow their minds. What do you know about Chiemsee and the Bavaria region? They have a motorworks there…Bavarian Motorworks (BMW)…and they have Bayern Munich football team. It’s like a forest and mountains. Scubi (keyboards): I actually played that festival already. I know it is big. I played with Luciano.
26 Interview Rootz Underground
What is it like touring with Yasmin, the new female singer addition to the band? It’s great. It introduces a good dynamic, because a bunch of guys traveling together we can get rough. She reminds us to be a little more compassionate, toned down, observant of other members. She adds a lot to the music, a different set of dynamics. We are having a good time, she is also a fun person. When do you plan to release your third studio album, Return Of The Righteous, Volume 1? February 6, 2014. On Bob Marley’s birthday What does this mean, the Return Of The Righteous? It means that righteousness is returning to the hearts of all people because the world has gone through a cycle where everybody got caught up in the material world, and now that the material world is so inundated, every single way, people are getting more to the roots again. This is kind of awakening a con-
sciousness in the younger generation as well as the existing generation. It’s eradicating the falsehoods and the illusion that Babylon created. Even though they built an internet system to try and put in certain systems to occupy our mind, it kind of backfired in the communication. This is a symbolic title, Return Of The Righteous. Not that Rootz Underground is the righteous, but that everyone on earth is the righteous. Where do you find inspiration to write and record as a band? Everything is created in nature. All of these things are inspiration, from the rain to the sky to the clouds, from other musicians, from visual arts, the plight of mankind, people who work in regular jobs, who lack spirituality or emotion, and more inspire us. Sunsets, nice landscape, but all summed up in nature. Sometimes we are in rehearsal and a vibration takes us, for instance. Two of the new songs came out like that, actually Return Of The
Interview Rootz Underground
Righteous and Fret Not Thyself came from a jam. Basically, we bring a chord and start to play together and something comes up. Most of the time Stephen writes the music, but we do jams and create vibes. What are the concerts at home in Jamaica that you produce? In Jamaica we are very proud of the new wave of artists and musicians that are coming out and in whatever way we have had an influence we are happy. But there is still a lack of venues and arenas especially for young talents to showcase their music. So instead of us just playing Rootz Underground shows, we decided to put together a series. It is all under our environmental charity, Rootz Releaf. We are raising funds for environmental activities, but on the flip side of that we creating an arena for younger talent to come up because when we started, there were venues available for young unknown bands like ourselves. So we are creating an arena of old and new. We
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put on headliners bigger than ourselves as well and then we have new acts to open the concert. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on a big stage with a big sound but also in front of a nice audience and a nice atmosphere, proper festival style, like what we see on tour. What is your favorite part of touring in Europe? Traveling around, meeting new people. The difference with Europe is that each place you visit you are going to learn a different language or a part of a different language. We enjoy traveling around and seeing all of the different cultures. There is a magical connection of Jamaican reggae and Germany, because of the work of Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, and of course all of the others over the years. Germany kind of got a head start in Europe in that way. So they have had a longer evolution of loving reggae, of loving Jamaican culture. They are more like Jamaica than a lot of others. They are super tuned into dancehall, they are really on the cutting edge as far
28 Interview Rootz Underground
as what is happening in Kingston or what is happening back on the island of Jamaica. So in this way we have a kind of fraternity with Germany, as our brothers, even as they relate, in the way they talk patois. What about your recent trip to the Hopi Native American Indian land in Arizona in the United States, what was that like? Awesome! We have played on different occasions with different Native American tribes, in Florida, New Mexico, and Arizona. The experience was phenomenal They took us on a spiritual tour as well, of Hopiland, we got to see Prophecy Rock. We got to see how the Hopi tribe lives, how they farm, their history. The great thing is that it is very similar to any kind of indigenous people from Africa or worldwide. We see a lot of similarities in our cultures. They explained that they grow long hair like us Rastafari grow long dreads, but when they do it is prayers for rain. This is something that we now can adapt because we are now praying for rain. There is a spiritual connection, any type of group or individuals
that are tuned in this way, naturally they are going to have a connection with us, since we are super tuned in and focused on the spiritual heights. What type of sponsors and partners do you have and how do they work with you? It’s a new model of how music is evolving, because music is being consumed in a different way. It’s not being sold the same way so the infrastructure is being challenged by cash flow and fiscal matters. We want corporate partners who are like-minded in terms of their mission and in terms of what they are doing. We don’t necessarily want to work with companies who are anti-creation or anti-earth or anti-health, but we are working with Aurora Innovations who is an organic fertilizer company. The way their mission is set up and the way that they are working with people on earth in the growing of food is exactly what we are trying to do with our music. Which is to keep it organic, not laced with preservatives. It’s a perfect partnership.
Interview Rootz Underground
What do you have planned for the remainder of 2013? Because of our tour plans, our concert series will be put off until next year when we do our album launch in February. We will have spent the better part of 7 months this year traveling. Keep connected to us on our Facebook: Rootz Underground and our Twitter: RTZunderground, join us on Instragram: Rootz Underground, and visit our website: RootzUnderground.com. We really want to share our culture not just in Europe or in the US or Africa. We want them to experience what it is like in Jamaica. We also want everyone to learn more about us and not just the way we perform our songs, but what we are about off stage. All of us have ways fans can reach us as well as ways we can speak. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really keep bodyguards, we are not traveling with
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an entourage, so there is free, easy access to us. Come to our concerts, go into the archives, and get our live recording Alive, get Gravity, get the Movement albums. Join us in Jamaica for Reggae Month in February. Rootz Underground
LIVE #2 CHIEMSEE REGGAE SUMMER 2012 Photos by Robert Hegenauer
Interview
Jah Sun RISE AS ONE
Interview Jah Sun
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HEART LIKE A LION by JUSTINE KETOLA
What can the fans expect at Chiemsee Reggae Festival? Well it’s my first time in Germany ever. I have respected the scene for a long time here, from Gentleman, Jahcoustix, Seeed, there have been so many great players from Germany. What the fans can expect, first and foremost is a very grateful and happy person just to be here. I am going to give them my best show, which always includes a little rocksteady, reggae, hip hop, freestyle, just being present in the moment. What do you know about Chiemsee and the Bavaria region? I know it is very close to the lakes and the mountains of Austria, I have always imagined it as a beautiful forested area with lots of trees and clean air, just sounds like Northern California, it’s going to feel like home. What is the reception like for you in Europe? There is the language barrier, sometimes it is a little challenging to me knowing that a big percentage of the crowd won’t understand me literally. I am always hoping that I am channeling the vibes, and bringing the true spirit of reggae to the people, so that even though the lyrics are lost in translation, the vibe and the presence I embody as the singer is transferred to the people. Usually it works and a lot of people are getting it. What is your band like for Chiemsee, who is on stage with you? I have heard about House of Riddim for a long time. They are a top shelf set of musicians, and they also produced the title track from
my album Rise As One. House of Riddim is the band, a dope set of producers and musicians who will be backing me. The coolest part about it is that I get to bring my friends from Italy, I am going to bring Lion D and the Living Harmonies from Livity band who back Lion D. Kabaka Pyramid will be at the festival and it will be the first time that we showcase our song Foundation together. I will be showcasing my friend Denham Smith from Germany, we will perform Rub A Dub Ting together.
34 Interview Jah Sun
Interview Jah Sun
What is your life like in California? Life in California is a lot slower. I am a dad first and foremost, I’m a partner to my wife, and she is a yoga teacher. I usually take the kids to school, I am always writing music, and I am always keeping my ear to the street and my heart open to the whole vibe, always. It is a more simplistic life, I’m just Jason, not Jah Sun, I am hanging with my kids, my 17-year old son who is a drummer named Sage, a 13year old daughter named Imani who is an aspiring singer, an 8-year old daughter named Tejah who is on her third belt in Capoeira, and a crazy little ragamuffin ninja named Ziv who is 5-years old. My wife is Crystal Soleil, who has taken all of the photography on my albums, she is a partner in my company. She’s my photographer and partner in the business and in life. How is your current release Rise As One doing and what type of plans do you have for videos and other promotion?
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Overall it‘s doing better than all of the previous releases and I am in the middle of a deal with VP Records for distribution and manufacturing. In terms of satisfaction for the work, as an artist, it was awesome to voice songs from Bost and Bim like Every Day Of The Week. Me as a rapper/singjay trying to ride a rocksteady riddim was very challenging and I dropped it. I got to tell the whole world about our community. The Seattle scene, the Bellingham scene, the Oregon scene, the Northern California and So Cal scenes. It’s been one of the better songs to perform live. The people love the melody, love the whole vibe of the tune. This whole album was like that, the production from Bizzarri Records, it was a great challenge for me to push myself into some great songwriting. Artistically, the gratification has been huge, financially, doing better than all the rest. I am working on two videos this month, one is called Mathematics with Heavy Roots
36 Interview Jah Sun
who produced two tracks off of my album: Battle The Dragon, Amore and Where Is Your Love. I worked with them again on a single, we just recorded the song. I sing about how mathematics is the ancient knowledge of the Kings, sacred geometry, quantum field, I get deep on this and I bring it in a hip hop style. We are going to shoot the video in Spain. It is partially sponsored by Project Groundation Massive who laced me up with the dopest gear and I am going to represent it hard in the video. Then I am going to Morocco to shoot a video with an artist from Southern Spain named Little Pepe who works with Germaica Records. How did you start working with European producers? I have to big up Alborosie, his first-ever performance in the United States was in Humboldt County, in Arcata my home town.
The crew is called Caliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Finest who were the first promoters to bring out Alborosie to the States. I got to meet him, we went to my studio, we wrote the song Ganja Don, and we planned the video on his next return. He was just really cool, he introduced me to some of his people in Italy. I sent them my music, I sent them my videos and they invited me out. That was my first chance to break into Europe. This is my third year in a row and we are planning next year already. What advice can you give to deejays and rappers and singjays coming up? The first thing is to realize that there is really is no you or me. Do your best to silence the mind and channel true emotion. If you can just bring yourself to that moment where you are channeling true inspiration, in the moment, people will always connect with that and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll do alright.
Interview Jah Sun
I was a rapper for a long time. Then the first time I heard Bob Marley, it just shifted my whole everything. I started growing my locks that was 20 years ago, first half of that time was just traveling around. Singing on the streets, singing over here, singing over there, freestyle ciphers, getting life experience. It was in a crowd at Reggae On The River festival watching another artist called Wisdom do his thing that I realized â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yo, I could do this, I gotta do this for real.â&#x20AC;? You have been touring in Europe before, what is your favorite part about touring here? My favorite thing about touring in Europe would have to be the massive, genuine, sincere appreciation for the art itself. There are so many festivals here where it could be reggae, it could be rock it could be so many different genres, people are not hung up on that here. The promoters and the community they make it possible for people to enter for like 1 Euro or for free. The prices are very low, the people
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come out in full force. We have great sound and lighting out here, great sound engineers, great tour management, great production assistance, they treat a show, even if it is someone like Jah Sun, like it is the biggest thing in the world, and it is the greatest feeling, as a musician to come here and experience that. What are your plans for the remainder of 2013? Right now I am focused on Europe, I just want to maximize the experience. I have been invited to some great places this year like Chiemsee. What is your message for the massive? In all that you want to do, let love be your guide. If you connect with me online, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s me, so hit me up at facebook.com/Jahsun411 and @JahSunMusic on Twitter, you can find my music at JahSunMusic.com, so just link up! Jah Sun
IMPRESSIONS #1 CHIEMSEE REGGAE SUMMER 2012 Photos by Tim Ullmann, Carmen Janzen, Thomas Mix & Michael Buchholz
Interview
Pentateuch BLACK FACE
Interview Pentateuch
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THE GENESIS by VALENTIN ZILL PHOTOS by eL PURU - HIMAGES In 2012 they stunned the reggae world with their single Black Face. Their recent debut album The Genesis is easily the most promising debut of any reggae band in more recent times, besides Raging Fyah‘s Judgement Day. Now the youngsters of Pentateuch travel Europe for the first time to spread positive vibes. Valentin Zill called the group‘s lead singer Kevor Williams to learn more about their background and discuss the Jamaican reggae renaissance movement.
You are a part of the roots reggae renaissance movement in Jamaica. What music did you listen to while growing up? Pentateuch: We grew up on revolutionary music. Music that uplifts people. Music that speaks out against injustice and inequality. That‘s the kind of music I grew up on, alongside gospel music also. The first time the world took notice of Pentateuch was when you released your single Black Face in February 2012. The Jamaican Gleaner stated that few artists would even dare to talk about the topic you touch in the song. Did it take courage for you to touch that issue? To be honest with you, we believe in right. And whether it will offend somebody, we don‘t care. If it is the right, we will say the right, we will sing the right. As long as we know that it is coming from a place of love, then we will always say the right. So putting out Black Face - it was just the right thing to do and the right thing to say. Why do you have so many black people in Jamaica trying
42 Interview Pentateuch
to be white, trying to change the color of their skin? And while they‘re doing that, they are killing themselves, giving themselves cancer and all these things. Black Face is just a simple song saying it doesn‘t matter who you are, love yourself! Be proud of yourself! This was a song to uplift my black brothers and sisters in Jamaica and worldwide, who don‘t think that being black is beautiful. And it would be the same situation if I was a white man. I would say “Yo, love yourself as a white man just the same. It doesn‘t matter what color you are. You were made perfectly in the image and the likeness of the Most High Jah. So love yourself!” That‘s the message of Pentateuch. It was just an unfortunate situation in Jamaica where you have a lot of people bleaching. How do you create your music? It‘s always a natural vibe when we‘re creating music. Nothing is forced, nothing is planned. We just play the music. It‘s just feeling and vibe. If I write a song, I come and let them hear it and we just put it together and make it work. For me as the songwriter in Pentateuch band, I rarely ever sit down and try to write
a song. For the most part, it‘s a vibe. It‘s like the lyrics come easy, and the music comes easy for me. It‘s not like I say I want to get up and write a song today. I get up in the morning, and I see something. Based on what I see, if it touches me in a spirit, then a song will come naturally. How do you assess the current reggae renaissance in Jamaica? To be honest, we need more support. It‘s like a flower that needs nurturing and watering. Right now, it is a good thing in Jamaica, simply because it‘s a new generation of musicians and artists. And all of us are young, and we are not saying gun, we are not saying sex, we are not saying negativity. We are saying love, equal rights, and unity. We‘re already starting to see the lifestyle and the culture of Jamaican people and the young youths in Jamaica chaining their whole attitude and perspective. Right now, nuff respect goes out to Chronixx. But time gone by, you‘ll probably never hear a positive song in the peak hours of a party. Now, you pass on the street, you hear the street dance, people dancing to Chronixx with that positive energy! A lot of
Interview Pentateuch
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young youths start to see him as a role model. That within itself is a great, great thing in Jamaica. The children and the youths are the future, and if they can start thinking positive, then we have a bright future! And it‘s not just Chronixx. In reality, it‘s Kabaka Pyramid, it‘s Protoje, it‘s Jah9, it‘s Kelissa, it‘s Raging Fyah, it‘s Dubtonic Kru, it‘s Pentateuch, it‘s a whole house of us. And the ones who are there from before, who were burning the fire hot: Richie Spice, I-Wayne, Lutan Fyah, everybody… Right now, positive and conscious music is back on the rise and we know that Jah will keep it that way and keep the people on a positive part. Because right now the state of the world and the state of Jamaica are not on the right road. And music can centralize the people, bring the people together to make that 180 degrees turn. Part of the reason for the rise of this movement seems to be the growing importance of musicianship in Jamaica. Education is always a good thing. Even if you are blessed with a talent, it cannot hurt to learn more about it. This is the thing: Bob Marley and all those guys from early, they
never had the opportunity to go to a college and learn reggae music. So it was coming from a purer place. It was just the vibe, the energy, and the motivation to learn to play the instrument by themselves. So now we are in a time where the college is there, and these are the same people who are in the college who are teaching us. As I said, Ibo Cooper is there. He‘s coming from that time. Derrick Stewart is there, he‘s coming from that time. Devon is there, he‘s coming from that time. So these people are still there as guides. Reggae music is not just a thing that you can learn to play. It‘s a lifestyle really. Learning reggae music in college is one thing, it becomes real music and real power when you start to live reggae music. It‘s a movement, it‘s a lifestyle, it‘s word, sound, and power. It‘s spiritual, and the spiritual side of it cannot be taught in college. Before you even start to play any kind of positive music, know yourself first. Seek the Almighty first. Then you play music. When you have the Almighty at the fore front, then the music comes naturally. Pentateuch
IMPRESSIONS #2 CHIEMSEE REGGAE SUMMER 2012 Photos by ROBERT HEGENAUER