INTERVIEW : NATTY KING
Interview by : Alexandre Tonus & Ben
Pictures by : Frank Casali
on Tuesday, December 20th 2005 - 20 020 views
Propelled to the top of the charts with No Guns To Town, Natty King is one of last year's roots revelations, firmly established by a quality first album. An heir to Dennis Brown, Luciano and Bushman, this young conscious artist naturally found his place on the Ja'Sound stage, at the festival's second edition this summer. An interview with one of the finest voices of the new generation.
Reggaefrance / Welcome, Natty King. Is this your first stay in France?
Natty King / It’s the first time I’ve come for a concert, but I’ve been here before to record.
When were you drawn to reggae?
I was born with music, but I followed in the footsteps of Dennis Brown, Burning Spear, Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. My father listened to a lot of roots, so I grew up with that music playing at home. I loved its vibrations.
Do you have influences outside reggae?
Yes, I listened to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson when he was younger, R Kelly, and Randy Travis, who is a country-western singer. I listened to these artists a lot.
You mention Dennis Brown, but you also have influences from Luciano…
Luciano is really an artist I admire. I even used to go by the name Luci B, B for “brother”. I used to cover Luciano’s songs on stage. Steady Ranks, who is a friend, and with whom I did No guns to town, advised me to stop covering Luciano and to develop my creativity. So I started writing songs.
How did you go from Luci B to Natty King?
First, I sang at school, for shows and concerts. Religious festivals are celebrated in schools and I was very well known in mine. At that time I was called Singing Kev. That was my first name because in reality I am called Kevin Roberts. Then I changed to Luci B, Luci Brother. Then I changed my name again to Breadjah, “the bread of Jah”. Finally I met Steelie & Cleevie, who changed my name to Natty King. They recorded me on their label Studio 2000 on the Bad Weather riddim in 2000. So I have had four different names, but the final one is Natty King.
This song on the Bad Weather riddim, is it your first single?
Yes, my very first single. The title is Badness hype. I’m on the B-side of the Anthony B track.
You come from St Thomas. There seems to be a vocal style shared by all the artists from there (Gramps from Morgan Heritage, Bushman…). Can you tell us about that?
I was born in St Thomas. St Thomas is a powerful place, it’s an old slave town. So you find people and things that are a bit special there. It’s a mystical place too, because there are hot springs gushing out of the rocks, the river, the sea. It’s a pleasant place, a natural, rasta place. Great voices come from St Thomas. Bushman, for example. Young talents too, that you don’t know yet but will be hearing soon.
What made you move to Kingston?
My grandmother lives in Bull Bay, next to Kingston. As I wanted to go further in music, I spent a lot of time in Bull Bay. That’s where I met Steady Ranks, whom I’ve known for a long time. He used to play on the Caveman sound system with Doniki. Steady Ranks gave me the mic one night and told me to get up on the speakers. I tore the place apart, I was 12… So I spent time in Bull Bay with my grandmother, which meant I could see Steady Ranks. He took me to the studios, advised me to write songs and also helped me write some. He really backed me up in writing many of the songs on the album. I also worked with another friend on this album, Donovan Francis.
It was thanks to Trinity that I met the people who helped me make this album, the Insight label. He has a friend in Germany, Lennart, who has a sound system called Ital Acoustic. Lennart came to Jamaica and gave me a beautiful guitar. He said he wanted to record me. We went into the studio, at Cell Block studio. He wanted me to do a duet with Trinity, who is a veteran deejay. I did this collaboration with Trinity and he liked my style. We swapped contact details and he helped me a lot in my career. He told me about his cousin, Jimmy Ricks. Trinity’s real name is Wade Brammer. Trinity’s cousin gave me the riddim for No guns to town and another riddim on which I sang Love me. Those are the first two songs I did for them. No guns to town was a real hit, number one everywhere.
You tackle conscious themes in your songs, but one is struck by how modern these themes are: you talk about capitalism and the environment, for example. I’m thinking in particular of the song Environmentalist.
Yes, I talk about toxic waste, polluted air and many dangers that we have to fight in Jamaica. This pollution carries disease, people die and don’t know what is killing them. So I insist that we keep the rivers, the sea and the lakes clean. Trees also play a very important role for the planet, for the birds and so on. Today, they cut down trees to make timber. These are important subjects that I sing about. I would also like to thank Donovan Francis, because Environmentalist is really his inspiration.
In the song Cut down the price, you also address very concrete subjects…
Yes, these are things that are happening right now. The song says:
“My cousin tell me she a trod down a market
A man beef no more she can take it
She get a money and she say she nah leave it
If a ackee she a haffi bite
She tell me say ya 60 $ for a dozen now”
(My cousin told me she went down to the market / She can no longer afford to buy beef / She got some money but doesn’t want to waste it / She would rather eat ackees / She tells me it now costs 60 $ a dozen.)
At first it was 60 $ and then the price comes down because ackees don’t keep for long. They should be given away, because if they aren’t sold they spoil quickly. Cut down the price means: lower the prices. That’s what is happening on the markets right now. The price of goods keeps rising and people have had enough. I sing about things that have happened to me, that have happened to people around me. And it’s what happens every day.
What do you think of the new generation of singers that you belong to?
It’s a good thing. Before I broke through, I already heard people complaining about always seeing the same artists and accusing radio presenters of always playing the same artists and not the new ones. I broke through with No guns to town and I was the youngest artist in the Jamaican top ten at that time, alongside Capleton, Sizzla, Sean Paul, Vybz Kartel, Elephant Man… I was the only youngster. Nobody knew me. The people voted for me to become number one. The people who control the charts in Jamaica always try to place the big artists and not the young ones. It was the public who decided I should be number one because I had a good song. It wasn’t money that ensured my promotion in Jamaica but the public alone. When the song was played on the radio, people called to find out who was singing, to ask for the song to be played again. I was contacted by television to make appearances. Lots of young people listened to my song. It says: “Don’t let the guns come into town”. In every ghetto I’ve been to, people loved this song and listened to the lyrics. The police honour me in Jamaica! The last time, I wanted to get my car insured. Normally it’s quite complicated, it takes time. When I got to the police station, the officers told me: “no problem, boss!”
On your album, there is a duet with Sizzla. Is it a real duet? I mean: did you meet Sizzla to record it?
No, I did the song first, then they took out one of my verses in the studio and Sizzla added his part.
What does such a duet mean to you? Is there a link with the fact that Luciano also did duets with Sizzla at the start of his career?
It’s a good vibe. Sizzla is a young, powerful artist. Many people admire him. There is no link with Luciano. In fact, it wasn’t my idea. It was the management’s idea.
You also did a combination with Singing Melody and a French artist, Lyricson…
Yes, Lyricson is bad.
Can you tell us about your collaboration with the Special Delivery label?
That’s thanks to Trinity again! Respect to him! He called me in Jamaica. At that time, my management didn’t want me to record because they had a contract with me for a project, so I wasn’t supposed to record for another label. Trinity told me about this label and convinced me to record on the riddim. So I accepted. I was in my car listening to this riddim. There were people, girls, children, in the street and around my car who felt this vibe. That’s how the song came to me. “One time for my people” is to say that I love the people and the fans who support me. It’s a good song. That’s why Special Delivery then offered me a combination with Singing Melody for Lyricson’s album. I liked him from the first time. He’s a good artist. But he didn’t record his part with us. We recorded with Singing Melody and he recorded his part after we left. I think he was a little intimidated about singing in front of us. But it’s still a good experience to have done this track with him.
What are your plans after your European tour?
I’m going to take a little time to record a new album. I already have about fifteen tracks. So I’m going back to Jamaica to take my time, handle contracts and write some more. Here, I go to bed late, but in Jamaica I have a different rhythm of life. I prefer to record my voice early in the morning.
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