INTERVIEW

Interview by : Alexandre Tonus Pictures by : Karl Joseph on Monday, June 28th 2004 - 16 097 views  Print        Reactions  (0)    Barely a few hours before his appearance on the stage of the Garance Festival, it is a tired Beenie Man we find in the large suite of his Paris hotel. About to take a nap (which proved a blessing, given the fire he set to Bercy afterwards), this great gentleman of dancehall nonetheless agreed to exchange a few words with us. A relaxed conversation over a beer; the calm before the storm... Reggaefrance / First of all, thank you Beenie Man for taking a moment to talk with us, it's a real pleasure, I'm a true fan. Beenie Man / Bless it, man, the pleasure is all mine. Since your album "The Doctor", you've really internationalised your style with the next two albums. What will the next one, "Back To Basics", be like? That's why the album is called "Back To Basics", because the album will be like "The Doctor", like "Many Moods Of Moses". It's like a return to dancehall, to give the world dancehall as it is. Dancehall draws on the world, on what's happening, it's reality. It's about what you have in front of your eyes, it's not just a matter of bling bling, or how many cars you've got or how many houses you own, it's about people. So this music talks about politics, it talks about men and women, this music concerns everybody. It's time for you to give dancehall its full dimension, and as I think I'm the one who started all this, I said to myself: "Let's go back to it!" Since Tropical Storm, you've put out lots of big hits, lots of singles, like Dude with Ms. Thing. I've heard that this tune will appear on your album. Does that mean it will be, like "The Doctor", more of a compilation of singles? No, it's not a compilation. There are a few singles on the album that have already been produced, but only a few singles. It's a brand new album, it's not a compilation, definitely. I read that you got off to a bad start to 2004, because you had a serious car accident… It's not that it started badly, it's just a phase of life that every man has to face. That is, you'd be expected to be discouraged, but you don't get discouraged, you persevere. I had a serious accident, I almost lost my life, but I drew strength from it and here I am now. It's not about the past or what happened, what it's about is what's happening now, and what's happening now is "Back To Basics". Are you still part of Shocking Vibes? Still. You have loads of young talents, like Patchy, Shadu and Calibe. Which of them will break through, in your opinion? We have a few artists who are breaking through, they're doing their thing… I've launched a new label, called 357, and we have a riddim called Scoobay, which is the most popular riddim in Jamaica right now. It's very popular here too… That's us! It's our beat and our production, mine and my partner Mario's. Is your collaboration with Virgin going well? Are you happy working with them, with this big major? It's a good major. They take you where you want to go, and so now is the time for them to spread my music around the world. It's good, believe me. Still on your album "Tropical Storm", you teamed up with the famous producers The Neptunes for two tunes. What was it like working with such artists? I've often worked with The Neptunes. For all my albums at Virgin, I worked with The Neptunes. The Neptunes have been my friends for a long time and they were on my albums. But this next album is a Jamaican dancehall album, so we worked with Jamaican producers. But having The Neptunes on an album is a privilege, because they're great artists, they love music and they do it so well. They're dangerous! Some of the music they make doesn't even sound like hip-hop, they make world music, dancehall, everything. It's great! You mentioned Jamaican producers, and I wanted to know which ones you chose for "Back To Basics"? We worked a lot with Dave Kelly, Tony Kelly, myself, Don, Lenky Marsden, all those young producers, Black Shadow… They're all on the album. And are there any combinations on this album? Not many. This album is mostly about me. I also saw you make a brief appearance during a Buju Banton show in Paris last summer, and you also did a combination with Gentleman, the German artist, who opened the show on your European tour. You seem to really enjoy doing combinations on stage? Yeah, it's a good thing, you have to like sharing the vibes, because vibes are there to be shared. That's what music is, sharing and loving. Music is for having fun, if you come to entertain the crowd, that's fine. It's not a distraction, it's just entertainment, so that you feel good. It's good to be important, but it's even more important to feel good. So, when we share music, we get different vibes. Gentleman is German, I'm Jamaican, he does dancehall with Jamaican vibes, it's magnificent! And can we expect a combination tonight, with Lady Saw perhaps? Lady Saw is on the bill? Well, if she's on the bill, we'll do things together. No problem, Lady Saw is my sister! What about clashes? The last time we met, you told us about some nasty business with Capleton and his crew, and tonight Capleton is on the bill too… Yeah, it's good! The clash is over. There's no more war between Capleton and me. It's finished. Do you still play football? Yeah, all the time! I'm a goalscorer. Do you score often? I score loads of goals, yes, I'm a goalscorer! I saw you in a video report, you were playing a match with lots of other Jamaican artists and you did score indeed… Of course, I have to score, I must score. And are you following the European Championship, which is taking place in Portugal? Do you know about France? Yes, France lost, I watched the match last night. I read that you're also very concerned about children's education in Jamaica. Are you taking action for this cause? Yes, I have to. I'm having schools built and that kind of thing, so they can go to school. Because to have a good knowledge of what goes on in life, you don't need to be a genius, you just have to know the basics of life, it'll help you a lot. Because you have people who are very well educated, but they don't have knowledge of what goes on, because they don't have street experience. You need to have those two things mixed together. Children today, these children go to school and all they think about is having fun, when is lunch break, when is playtime. So we built schools, so that all these children, when they come home from school, go back to school, this time to learn how to learn. That way, when they go to school, they're more attentive. So, if they get good marks, they don't have to be put under pressure, if they get bad marks, you have to put pressure on them, because they have to learn. It's not like the kids in my day in Jamaica - I teach them that - because they took it for granted, school was free and nobody paid a bill, so they just went to school and came there to learn nothing. So quite a few of them came out of it with only street experience, while people like me went from school to school and combined school experience with street experience. My children must follow the same path and every child I know must take the same path, so, if you don't go to school, don't think of me. Do you have music classes? Yes, we have music classes. We have computer classes, we have language classes, we have everything. We have university teachers who come and teach the children. So you have high hopes for Jamaica in the future? Yes, it's what we have to do, we have to build the country. Forget the government and the politicians. What can you do? What do you hope for Jamaica over the next 5 years? Jamaica looks set to have a good future from now on, everybody is turning towards the country, but the politics has to change. When it has changed, then the country will be fine. Apart from that, Jamaica is the best place, believe me. Music is certainly at the root of all that… Yes, music is divine in Jamaica. It's the only path through which the message can get across. Music, the only means by which the country can prosper, music. And the strong ganja… Do you think companies like Puma, which are taking an interest in Jamaica, could help in this respect? Yes, they do Jamaica good, it's good for the country, but we need even more support. And then, the football team is coming up, we're going to work hard this time, we're going to do it… Will you be part of the national team? Me? I'll be too busy to be part of the national team. If I weren't so busy, I would have played for the country, believe me. Do you have a special word or big up to pass on? Just a big up to all my fans and to those who'll go and get the album when it comes out, "Back To Basics", a killer album! Regarding your show tonight, what in your view is the main difference between the French and European crowd and the Jamaican crowd? Jamaicans are mad, the moment you step on stage they go mad and they stay that way throughout your performance. In Europe, you have to tell people what to do, get them in the mood, try to get them moving, you have to give them a tight performance, that's all, and they'll follow you. They don't speak English, but they sing reggae. Maybe the challenge is greater in Europe? No, it isn't. It's great! I love seeing crowds. When I see lots of people, I go mad. Everybody has to move, that's why I'm here, to get people moving, not to have people just standing there watching me: "Hey! I'm a madman!" 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