INTERVIEW

Interview by : Alexandre Tonus Pictures by : Benoit Collin on Wednesday, April 21st 2004 - 11 601 views  Print        Reactions  (0)    On the occasion of our meeting with Alozade, we were also able to interview Zumjay, a young rising figure of today's yardie dancehall. A promise is a promise. We bring you this DJ's confidences, recorded once again over a good little meal. Reggaefrance / First of all, can you tell us more about yourself? Where you come from. Where you were born. And can you explain the meaning of Zumjay? Zumjay / Zumjay, "the DJ of the 21st century", as people say, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in a place called Waterhouse, in the ghetto, in the heart of the city, the same place Beenie Man and other great reggae and dancehall stars come from, Ward 21 too. And where did I get the name Zumjay? It was given to me by my friend, Homar Harris, because it means "courageous". I used to go to his studio every day after school, and as I often left late and all that, going home, and Waterhouse was very violent at that time, they said I was very courageous, so they named me Zumjay; it's a name given by Haile Selassie I. I read that you were an engineer for Penthouse before becoming a DJ… No, I've always been a DJ! Since school... But when I finished my studies, I started learning to become an engineer at Penthouse. At the same time, I was pursuing my DJ career. In the end, I was an engineer for about 4 years and I worked on crazy projects, with Buju Banton and Beres Hammond and other incredible artists. Now my DJ side is my true calling, my true talent. And what made you decide to become nothing but a DJ? There wasn't really a choice about it... It was just circumstances. Even when I was an engineer, I was still putting out songs while doing my engineering job. Even now, I still do engineering work, but not as much as I used to; I only do it on certain projects, like for Lenky, the Jamaican manager, a famous project, and for nobody else for the moment. It's not as if I still do it as such, it's more of an extra. Are you still in touch with John Shop Records? Yes, when I left Penthouse, I got in touch with John Shop Records; in 2001, in New York, I recorded a song called "Badman" for them and they liked it. And from that moment, they really launched my career, in New York State and across the whole American market of course, and they sponsored me all over the globe. And so you've had many tunes, like "Courtney"… "Courtney" came before that, though... Around 2000, that's when "Courtney" came, while I was still working as an engineer. Then 2001 arrived, and that's when I left Penthouse, went to New York for a while, got in touch with John Shop... Then I took part in Sashi the same year, you know John Shop opens the show at Sashi. My career started to take off, I recorded and all that, around 2002, in February. And it hasn't stopped since, more and more... I also heard you recently had a problem over a lyric with another artist and King Jammy? Yes, but really, I don't talk about that little incident... It's a very unfortunate incident, but I really don't talk about it. Well... I saw that you took part in the party organised by VP and Puma. I'd like to know what dancehall artists think of Puma's action for Jamaica and what Jamaicans think of Puma? I don't really have an opinion on the matter... It's good that Puma does what it does... I don't really think about it. I think about writing songs and making hits. I mean, it has nothing to do with me: not yet. So I don't know much about it, I'm not interested, I don't know what their deal is... And what are your personal plans for the future? Right now, I'm working on an album with Lenky, for 44 Production. And in September, or rather this summer, between August and September, I'm going to set up my Zumjay Birthday Bash in New York. And I'm also planning to make a video, a music video to come out this summer, a completely crazy project. Can you say a word about your combination with the French artist Firestorm? Firestorm! He's a killer I met in Geneva. He got in touch and said to me: "Zum, I want to do a tune and blah blah blah…". I met him in the studio... He recorded his part, I recorded mine, and it was a good project, and he's a nice young guy, pure vibes! Have you heard how it turned out? No, I've never heard it yet, but it must be good. To finish, do you have a message or a word for web users? Love God and live, and hate God and cry. That's all I have to say for the moment: Love God and live, hate him and cry. Zuuuuuuummm!  Print       Reactions (0)

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