INTERVIEW
Interview by : Alexandre Tonus
Pictures by : Karl Joseph
on Monday, November 08th 2004 - 12 713 views
Passing through Bagnols-sur-Cèze this summer, Cocoa Tea granted us an interview in which he talks about his influences and his career... A meeting with one of the pioneers of lovers dancehall!
Reggaefrance / Could you introduce yourself? Where does your name come from?
Cocoa Tea / I was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. Most people come from Kingston or other places, but I come from Clarendon, like Freddie McGregor, Toots & The Maytals, the Clarendonians… As for my name… One evening, my mother told me she didn’t want to cook. She said she wanted tea. I said to her: ‘‘Yes mama, some hot coco tea!’‘. The neighbours’ kids started calling me Coco Tea. When you have a nickname and you don’t like it, people stop calling you that. But if you like it, you keep it. That’s how I got this name.
What are your influences? Who made you want to make music?
I think I was born to do this. Since I was very young, I’ve loved singing. I sang while walking, while resting… Whatever I did, I did it singing. It’s something innate, a bit. Something that was given to me by Jah.
You were a jockey for a while…
Yes, I love horses, and I’m still in that business. My passion for horses began in 1976. You know, I’m small, slight, people used to tell me: ‘‘You could make a good jockey! Why not go to the track?’‘ One day, someone took me there. I’ve had this love of horses since then. But the love of music was so strong that I put the horses aside. I had to move forward.
Your first song was Searching in the hills…
I was 14 at the time, I was very young. That song was written by someone else. It took me ten years after that to really break through in music. I didn’t really know how to write a song back then. I had to take my time, wait patiently for ten years until I mastered the art of writing a song. When I came back, I was able to get going.
Ten years later, your career really takes off with the producer Junjo Lawes on Volcano Records. Can you tell us about that period? Junjo Lawes is not considered an easy person, almost a badman…
No, Junjo Lawes wasn’t a badman, nor was he a difficult person. He was born in Kingston and grew up in Kingston. Most people think people born in Kingston are bad. But it’s not like that. There are good people and bad ones, that’s how life goes. It all depends on your experience with the person you consider good or bad. With me, as far as I’m concerned, he was a good person. He taught me a lot of things. I knew how to sing, but he’s the one who taught me the tricks of the trade.
Working with Junjo Lawes was very pleasant. He knew how to spot people with the talent to go to the top. All the artists he said to: ‘‘You have the talent to become big’‘, all those people went to the top. As for the ‘‘bad guy’‘, I never saw that side of him. I always looked at the producer, the musical dimension of the man. And that side of him was really cool.
You then joined King Jammy’s, with whom you made several albums. It was at that time that you collaborated with several dancehall artists, such as Spragga Benz and Shabba Ranks. What is your opinion of dancehall artists in general?
We are the first dancehall artists of Jamaica. I say ‘‘original dancehall’‘ in the sense that we learned the trade in the dance halls. It all started when Volcano Sound came to Rocken Pine. Junjo had a sound called Volcano Hi Power. When they came to play in my area, in Clarendon, people wanted me to take the mic. They gave it to me, and that’s how I was discovered. My career started with the dancehall era, people like Josey Wales, Charlie Chaplin, Brigadier Jerry, Lone Ranger, Linval Thompson, those people. I come out of that whole era.
It wasn’t hard to work with these artists. In fact, it was even easier, in the sense that I was a bit like their teacher, explaining to them how to do certain things. It was really very pleasant to work with these artists. People like Shabba Ranks. He’s very talented, he has melodies that blend very well with my voice. Every time we do combinations, it really works because our two melodies come together so well.
But today’s dancehall is no longer the same…
No, today’s dancehall isn’t the same thing any more. For me, today’s dancehall is sad and boring. People go and dance, but for 10 or 20 minutes. There’s this vibe, and the next moment it’s gone. It doesn’t take you to the highest level. It takes you up and brings you down. Our dancehall takes you up without stopping. The melody is irresistible. With a good melody, good lyrics and a good riddim, a lot of things can happen.
You then joined other labels, such as X-terminator, or Digital B and Gussie Clarke. What differences are there in the way of working between them?
It’s hard to say. You know, it was fairly easy to work with them. Once I hear the riddim, I can do something with it. It’s not the producer who makes you a good artist. The producer can teach you certain things you don’t know. But to become a good artist, you have to work on your own. You have to be versatile enough to voice riddims. Today in Jamaica, in dancehall, a guy makes a riddim, and thirty or forty artists sing on it. If you’re a good artist, you make a good song. Some make a good song and can’t get any further. When you’re a good artist, you can work with anybody easily.
You are in fact a producer yourself, with your label…
My label is called Roaring Lion, it has existed since 1995. We’ve made some very good songs yuh know? We produce young artists, and major artists in Jamaica like Sizzla, Buju Banton, Capleton, Marcia Griffiths, George Nooks, Sanchez…
What is the next goal in your career?
Well… I don’t really see music as a career. It’s a job I want to do, I don’t limit myself to anything in music. I just want to do it. It comes from the heart. Every day I want to sing songs and make people happy. Music is the only thing that makes people forget their problems. They can sit down and listen to what I have to say. Music can inspire them, give them courage, to persevere… Not to think about killing themselves, yuh know what I mean? (laughter).
Where I see myself in the business is trying to bring the younger ones up. So that they follow my pattern, that they build something lasting. Today’s artists don’t really last long. They arrive, stay a year or two, and start to disappear. It’s because of the style of music that’s coming out at the moment. When I was singing last night, the youngest and the oldest were dancing, which means this music transcends all ties, from one generation to another. That’s what music should be. My first song dates from 1974: it’s thirty years old. And I’m singing it right now! And it still sounds as good! If the music is good, it lasts. Bob Marley has been dead a long time but his music is still alive. It’s not the ‘‘hype’‘, but the ‘‘type’‘ of music that matters. That’s what I want to teach the young ones.
Before coming to these places, people taught me to identify the best time to come, the number of tracks, of hits to come with. When you’re a young artist, you have to have enough songs to sing to the audience. When you come to France or Germany, you put on a good show, people are happy and ready to come back for another concert. But if you come with only one song, it’s not very encouraging for the audience who want their money’s worth. My aim is to educate the young ones the way I was. To do good work and stay in music for a long time. Not like those who stay at the top three or four months or a year or two.
After this tour, what are your plans?
After finishing this tour, I’m going on tour with Capleton in the United States for seven weeks. We did six weeks last year, and it was a big success. That’s why we’re doing seven weeks this year: by popular demand. After that, I’m going to give a concert in Jamaica. I organise my own concerts in Jamaica now. It’s called ‘‘Original Dancehall’‘, Jam Jam. It’s a dancehall concert, we don’t use a backing band. Only the sounds. There’s a DVD, produced by my label and distributed by Island, called ‘‘Original Dancehall’‘. It’s the first edition, which was held last year in Jamaica. It’s really a big show. That year there were 20,000 people.
On my label, I have a Christmas album coming out, probably through VP. You can start looking for it. It’s a compilation of artists like me, Singing Melody, Sanchez, Richie Stephens, and lots of young artists.
I saw you in Germany two days ago. You got a big forward there. What is your opinion of the European audience?
Europeans love and support reggae. We really like giving concerts in Europe because the audience shows you a lot of love. It’s very pleasant to be in Europe, I like the spirit of the people here. Last night, it was incredible to see people stand all day and until four in the morning. They were still having fun! I’ve been to many other places where the audience is more tired, and wants to go home. Here people are really into it, and I love that!
A message for our readers?
I’d like to send a message to the French. Whatever our colour or race, we are all a unique being. We must show love to one another, help each other. We must come together and defend ourselves because the world isn’t running right. Everybody must come together: black, white, purple, pink, blue. Everyone must come. The world’s governments are the ones who dictate to people what to do, and that’s not right. We want people to have their say in affairs, in what is happening. People must mobilise, be vigilant, speak to the government. Bun Corruption!
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