INTERVIEW
Interview & pictures : Filip Flatau
On the occasion of the release of his new album, Back With a Vengence, it was imperative to catch up with this DJ who has had an international career thanks to hits such as "Wake the Man".
Although he tends to be forgotten on the new dancehall series, he hasn't said his last word....
Interview with Cutty.
Reggaefrance / Can you tell me where in Jamaica you were born?
Cutty Ranks / My father is from St Mary and my mother is from Manchester. I grew up without knowing my mother. The first time I saw her was when I was 24, and the last time I saw my father was when I was ten.
I was raised by my grandmother (who isn't my real grandmother), but she's the one who brought me up, who sent me to school... She died at the age of 97, and I made sure she had a grand funeral.
How did you start deejaying?
I started in music very young. Around the age of 7 I used to steal my grandmother's little metal cubes of milk, which I would drink, and then I would use them to make myself a beat by drumming on them, and I sang along at the same time. Back then I had no idea I would become the musician I am today.
Around 1978-1979, I started working in sound systems with Gemini Disco; I followed sounds like Papa Roots, and Killamanjaro and all the big sounds of the time.
My career really began when I sang for a sound called Rebel Tone, then Speedy Roots, before I got to sing for a bigger sound called Music Murgen; it was thanks to that sound that I connected with Killamanjaro.
Afterwards I left Killamanjaro and joined the ranks of Sturmar. At the time there was Yami Bolo, who was still a child, Tenor Saw, Nicodemus, Brigadier Jerry, Josey Wales, all the veterans were there, I can't name them all.
That is the route I went through. Then I left Sturmars to go to Arrows International. At the time Beenie Man was only an apprentice, and I started to sing even before Shabba Ranks.
Can you tell me who influenced you in music?
Josey Wales was my idol in music, and Daddy U-Roy and Charlie Chaplin.
I started my career by imitating Josey Wales, before I created my own style by myself. I had already created my own style quite early, until other people came and stole it from me.
Even Beenie Man learnt from me, and they act as if they don't remember it.
You see that young deejay, Hawkeye? Well, I'm the one who gave him that name, and he acts as if he doesn't remember it.
When they get too big, success goes to their heads.
When all these young deejays reach a certain stage, they start to forget where they came from.
Many are also trying to build an international career...
Yes, that's what they would like to do, but their lyrics make no sense... so they often don't get even halfway.
And many deejays like Elephant Man pirate the rappers in the USA by stealing their flows and their gimmicks, so they create nothing new.
Beenie Man is at the top of all these style thieves, because as soon as a deejay becomes known, Beenie Man copies his flow and makes a tune with it. So he isn't real.
I would give more respect to Shaggy, because that guy creates his own stuff, and I give respect to Sizzla and Bounty Killer, but the others can go and sit back down.
To come back to your career, who was the first producer who discovered you and for whom you recorded?
The first producer was Winston Riley, for the Techniques label. The first song I made was Gunman Lyrics, and after that I recorded Fishman Lyrics. And the third was Out Of Van, and from there I made my deejay name known when I was singing for Sturmars, and sounds like Metromedia helped me reach another level in the sound.
The song that really made me known, and the song I made for the Shocking Vibes label (the label that has Beenie Man in its ranks), was The Bammer & Come Better; then the rest of my songs were recorded at Penthouse Records for the producer Donovan Germain. I re-recorded The Bammer for him and plenty of other hits, including combinations with Marcia Griffiths, Beres Hammond and Ken Boothe.
Can you tell me about your new album "Back with a Vengence"...
First of all, why that title?
Well, it had been a long time since I had released an album, and a lot of people were waiting for it and expecting something from me.
And for me this album is very good and I know its potential...
But I don't like to talk about my work by boasting; as they say in Jamaica:
Self Praises are no recommendation.
I would just advise people to go and listen to the album and judge for themselves, and there they will see who is the better man (laughs).
We must also talk about this single (which has nothing to do with Jammys or Artist Only), produced by Barry York and called Can I touch yu Baby; it's a hip hop tune and the riddim is played by Sly & Robbie. You know the song with Shaggy, It Wasn't me? Well, I think "Can I touch yu Baby" has more potential than that song. This song will also be on my next album.
What will be the special features of your next album?
There will be combinations with Gregory Isaacs and Wayne Marshall, and TOK does the backing vocals on 2 songs. I have a cousin in London who sings like Lauryn Hill, hip-hop, garage and R 'n' B, and we are also working together on a few tracks. Every track on the album is so fat that each of them could come out as a single. I'm currently hesitating between 2 names: "Blade" or else "Last Man Standing". I haven't chosen yet, but when the time comes, I'll decide.
What do you think of the dancehall business at the moment?
In Jamaica, the singers are doing well; there must be 1 or 2 deejays who bring a real message. But the music business is so corrupt; they use favouritism and they promote artists who have no message. And they try to keep other people silent. I'm a person who believes in God, and I'm not going to judge them for what they do... As long as I have a message and I'm alive, that's the main thing. People have become too materialistic.
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