INTERVIEW
Interview by : Filip Flatau
Daddy Morry is getting ready to release a solo album eagerly awaited by Raggasonic fans. While Big Red opted for a crossover album with R'n'B, hip hop and a little reggae sounds, Morry has committed to delivering a strictly reggae and dancehall album. An interview with one of the great figures of dancehall in France.
Reggaefrance / Can you tell us about your beginnings?
Daddy Mory / I started around 1986, 1987 in a group from my neighbourhood in Ivry-sur-Seine called Drop The Lyrics. Little by little, I started moving around the sound systems, until 1990 when I met Big Red, and then we set up Raggasonic, well, Raggasonic already existed, so I joined him in Raggasonic and we started working together. For my part, I played a lot in the sounds, while at the same time working with Big Red. In 1995, we signed our first contract, we put out the first album and then the second. Today I'm preparing a solo album that should normally come out in the year 2000, around the beginning of summer.
What is the difference between the first album and the second in terms of lyrics and sound?
In the sounds, it's the same; we always played on classics, we also did a few dancehall riddims. Now the difference in the lyrics is maturity. When I made the first album I was 22, I was young, and by the time we made the second I'd already had children in the meantime, so there is a maturity on the lyrics side. Then the years go by, and the older you get, the more it shows in the words...
You did a combination with NTM?
Yeah, it was on the first album, "Aiguisé comme une lame".
What is your relationship with NTM now that they no longer work with you?
I don't see much of Kool Shen, I don't see much of Joey Starr any more, but I see him more than Kool Shen. From time to time, I drop by to see him on his show. We still have solid contact.
Big Red's solo album happened because you went to prison at one point...
Can you tell us about that?
I had some minor trouble with the law because of weed. I got arrested with a good quantity of herb. I did 5 months in prison. During that time, things went through everybody's heads. Big Red thought it was a bit silly to wait for me before putting something out, so he was a bit hasty and put his album out while I was in prison, a bit stuck. When I got out, that's when I learnt that Big Red was making an album. For my part, I started working; I had already written a lot of lyrics while I was in prison. I'm launching out on my own, especially as our directions are now totally different.
Do you not work with him any more?
No, we don't work together any more. Raggasonic is over. In the sense that he has taken a path that is not the same as mine. He's a badman, I'm a rastaman. I make music for Jah, for the people. I feel mature enough to carry on my work on my own.
Will your next album still be in cooperation with Frenchie?
Yeah, a few tracks will be done by Frenchie. On this solo album I'm going to take a bit more control of the riddims. I'll try to be a bit more independent. With Raggasonic, we depended totally on Frenchie; the riddims were perfect, I'm not criticising anything at all, but this time I'll be a bit more independent on my album. Half of the tracks will be done with Frenchie. And the other half will be my own contacts. That is to say, arriving in Jamaica with a precise idea of a riddim, then having them play our compositions properly, then coming back to France with a reggae album.
What do you think of French reggae at the moment?
Back in the Raggasonic days I always said that in 2 years reggae would explode. And reggae has exploded. Now, it hasn't finished exploding; loads of groups have come out. Before, there was no competition; now there is competition. And that competition means everyone gives the best of themselves, and so reggae moves forward faster. And I think reggae is really going to explode, because it's a music that has been around for a very long time. It's a music you can compare to the blues, to jazz.
What do you listen to personally?
For me, the best deejay is Capleton, in terms of deejay technique. There are many deejays in Jamaica, but what makes Capleton the best in my view is his technique.
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