INTERVIEW : TONTO IRIE
Interview by : Benoit Georges
Pictures by : Captain Recordz
on Tuesday, October 24th 2006 - 13 720 views
A veteran of Jammy's Superpower sound, deejay Tonto Irie witnessed and took part in reggae's digital revolution with the birth of the Sleng teng riddim. Passing through France for a few shows, this master of words speaks to us in limpid English, refusing, he says, to answer an interview in patois. Tonto Irie looks back with us on the golden age of dancehall and on his recent production projects.
Reggaefrance / Welcome, Tonto Irie. There isn’t much information available about you, so could you first introduce yourself?
Tonto Irie / My name is Errol Benjamin and I was born in St Mary, Jamaica. But I don’t really know St Mary, since I moved to Kingston when I was a year and a half old. So I grew up in Kingston, and it wasn’t necessarily an easy life for me. I lived in August Town before moving to Patrick City in the Kingston 19 district.
What year did you start singing?
I started deejaying in 1982 on small sound systems in August Town. From there, I began to get recognised and I went to the Black Star sound system, where there was Brigadier Jerry, Danny Dread, then Tiger and Anthony Malvo. I only left Black Star to go to Jammy’s.
What were your first influences?
I’d say Brigadier Jerry, U-Roy of course because he is a founder, and Lone Ranger was also one of my favourite deejays.
You mentioned the Black Star sound, which at that time was an unmissable sound in Kingston…
Yes, Black Star controlled Kingston along with Killamanjaro, Stereo Mars and Youthman Promotion. Black Star was one of the sounds in that category.
Was that your first experience on a big sound?
On a big sound, yes. But my first experience on a sound was with the General sound in August Town. It was really on that sound that I started taking the mic. But the real turning point was Black Star and then Jammy’s. I mean, those sounds played every week.
At that time, you made a few recordings with Myrie and Marshall of Sunset Records…
Yes, they were my very first producers. Actually, I went to school with a guy named Billroy Endisson. He wasn’t in music but he knew Marshall and Myrie. He told me he had friends in Waterhouse and that he would take me to meet them. So one day we went to Waterhouse and I met Half Pint, Pad Anthony and Junior Reid. You have to know that these producers were the first to record Half Pint or Pad Anthony. We recorded a few tracks and they told me to go and try my luck at Jammy’s because he had a wide choice of riddims. It was Marshall and Myrie who introduced me to Jammy’s.
From that point on, you could be seen very regularly on Jammy’s Superpower alongside other big names like Admiral Bailey, Chaka Demus…
Actually, I first started recording for Jammy’s because he had put his sound on hold. When he wanted to come back to the sound, I found myself with Tullo T, Pompidoo, John Wayne, Major Worries, then Admiral Bailey.
When you arrived at Jammy’s, he hadn’t yet gone digital. How did you experience that revolution?
When I started at Jammy’s in 1984, there was nothing digital, just bass and drums. The Sleng teng riddim was created in 1984: it was Wayne Smith and a guy called Noel Bailey who discovered this riddim. I say discovered because the basis of the riddim came from a little Casio keyboard, where it was programmed. But it was really fast. The first people to get this riddim in their hands were precisely Marshall and Myrie: Wayne Smith and Noel brought them the Sleng teng but they found it too fast. So they took it to Jammy’s, and the Jammy’s I know never sits on a good musical idea. He put the riddim into his console, slowed it down and added his little magic touch. The rest is history.
As for your encounter with the Sleng teng riddim…
Actually, Wayne Smith was the first to record on the riddim because he was the one who had discovered it. At that time, Greensleeves would put out a side with a singer and a deejay on the other. Jammy’s came to see me one day and told me he needed a deejay for the Wayne Smith cut. He told me I was the man for the job. To be honest, when the riddim was made, no other deejay could or would get on this riddim. I mean, nobody had ever heard anything like it, and all of a sudden this new trend arrived. At that time, nobody knew anything about computers and digital. So the deejays couldn’t get on the Sleng teng. So I took the riddim and sat down at my corner in August Town, in the same neighbourhood as Sizzla. At that time, there was a bunch of guys in the neighbourhood who got around everywhere on bicycles; in Jamaica they were called the “One a penny crew”. We were looking for a phrase to start the track, a punchline that would have an effect, as Early B used to do. So I took it like that: " one a penny posse you fi ride inna dis". I went back to Jammy’s the next day because he had told me I had to do it as soon as possible. When I told him I had his track, he didn’t believe me. We went into the studio and he said to me "Tonto, it’s a hit". So we recorded the song and the rest is history.
What is your best memory of Jammy’s sound?
Actually, I really had a good time on his sound because back then it was real dancehall, where you really had to work for your money. It wasn’t about going on stage for 30 minutes or an hour and taking loads of money. I can tell you that when I worked on Jammy’s sound, I earned 200 Jamaican dollars, and back then that was already good, we didn’t have too many money problems. But you had to work: the sound started at 8 pm and you had John Wayne or Tullo T on for two or three hours, even though they could come back afterwards. But for the next three hours it was Tonto with Chaka Demus, because Admiral Bailey came after. So it was a lot of work but I had some very good times on that sound. I loved deejaying on the system and driving the crowd completely wild. The crew was really powerful back then too.
Who was your favourite artist in the Jammy’s crew?
For working, back then, before Admiral arrived, it was Chaka Demus and Major Worries. But when Admiral Bailey arrived, we became very close and we really worked well together.
In the 90s, though, the competition got tougher for you.
In the 90s, I didn’t record for Jammy’s. I recorded for Whitfield Henry, of the Witty label, and for Penthouse. Actually, I only recorded one track for Penthouse, World best lover, and that’s all. He often asked me to come back and record, but at that point I was leaving for the United States, my head wasn’t in it.
Did you take a break on purpose?
Yes, you can really say that. But as an artist, how long can you stay away from music? Music is my life, but everybody needs a holiday. So maybe I took too much (laughs).
Recently, you could be heard on John John’s Nukie riddim…
Yes. John John has always asked me to record. John John is my partner. We’re always together. When you see me you see John John, if you see John John, you see Tonto. Everybody wondered why I wasn’t recording for John John, for Baby G or for Jam2, for the Jammy’s family. I’d say it’s personal, I chose it. But they’re like members of my family. One day, John John told me he was trying to get this new artist, Busy Signal, on this riddim but he didn’t know Busy. I have a friend called Bugle who knew Busy well. So I made the link between them, and John John asked me to voice the riddim. He wanted me to redo Every posse get ready, because it was one of his favourite tracks back then. I was at Jammy’s when John John was nine or ten years old. Me, I didn’t really want to redo that track but it was really what he wanted. We sat down with Delly Ranks and Bugle and I laid the track on the Nukie.
Can you tell us about the Rose apple riddim?
The Rose apple riddim was put out by Kevin Blake and myself. I wasn’t there when the riddim was made, but one day I found myself at Kevin’s, who was looking for a riddim to work on. He had loads of them on his computer. So we listened and came across this riddim. He told me a guy in Germany had composed it. We first thought about changing the melody but then we preferred to add something. There was a young singer by the name of Carlington who also plays piano. He was there trying things until he found a melody. So we decided to keep it. I immediately came up with a track on it. Turbulence was the first to record on it, then Shaka Pow, Bugle, me and then all the others. All those tracks were produced by Kevin Blake and myself.
Do you intend to continue down this path?
Yes, because I see lots of talented artists who aren’t recording. I hope to be able to produce more riddims for artists like Gentleman, who really impressed me on stage, Abijah, Prezident Brown, who I think is one of the most underrated deejays in Jamaica, and others like Anthony B, Fantan Mojah, Chuck Fender or Richie Spice.
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