INTERVIEW : FUTURE TROUBLES
Interview by : Benoit Georges
on Monday, November 15th 2004 - 10 205 views
Released in 2004, the Scoobay anthem with Tony Curtis, followed by Black cosa nostra on the Kasablanca riddim, put deejay Future Troubles back at the forefront of the Jamaican scene. Reggaefrance had heard nothing from the artist since his last visit to France. With another duet with Tony Curtis just out on producer Frenchie's Fowl fight riddim, we are publishing this encounter in New York with one of the pillars of the Maximum Sound stable.
Reggaefrance / Welcome Future Troubles. Can you tell us about your beginnings?
Future Troubles / The first song I recorded was Badness a madness for Barry O'Hare's label. Barry O'Hare produced Prezident Brown, Tanya Stephens, a lot of Garnett Silk too. He's the engineer at Irie FM. Then the second song I recorded was Impersonated badman for Castro Brown's label. Castro Brown produced Lady Saw and Luciano. Then I did a third song for Courtney Cole's label, Roof International, it was Hiahiao (Kung fu) and that's where my career began.
At the beginning, what were your musical influences?
My musical influences are first of all my uncle. He's a Jamaican festival singer. He's in a group called The Astronauts. He was my first influence and seeing him on TV made me want to do like him. Him and Bob Marley, because you know Bob Marley comes from St Ann. The other artists I loved and respected and who were my idols in that period were Ninjaman, Admiral Bailey, and Tiger with Prezident Brown too.
You had a long collaboration with Beenie Man and Shocking Vibes. Can you tell us about that period?
It dates back to a track I did with Beenie Man for one of his albums on Virgin. And Beenie Man is a friend. I wasn't really signed to Shocking Vibes, but the riddims were there, so I worked on them and tried my luck. Relations were very good at Shocking Vibes. I did China mi live, Can't smoke the weed and many other songs there. It came out of the good vibes I had with Shocking Vibes. It's an important stage in my career, I needed to sing for people like that because they had the music and the means of promotion to get me out of there.
And indeed the songs you mention were hits...
Yes, that's true. It's because we were doing it on the vibe, it was very dancehall.
You still collaborate today with Frenchie (Maximum Sound); how did you meet?
I got to know him through Richie Stephenson of Pot of Gold, it was at Anchor studio in 98 or 99 I think, because my career started in 94. It was the first time I recorded a track for him and he was saying to Richie Stephenson: “I like this guy's voice.” He showed me great interest as an artist. And when somebody shows you that much interest, it's logical to give him your best. So there's something magical between Frenchie and Future Troubles. I don't judge him as a Frenchman or as a white man, he's a friend, he has good vibes and he's straight: if you do a song for him, he has you sign a contract, he pays you the royalties, he's really serious in business, he's punctual, never late at the studio. He's always on time for everything and he does what he says. I have a new album coming out for him in France called ''Cosa Nostra''. It's a 16-track album produced by multiple labels but Frenchie produced six of them. There's also Fat Eyes, Shocking Vibes, 9mile Thugs, John Shop Records, Fith Element, for whom I did a song. So that's my relationship with Frenchie, he's a friend and he's a “business partner”. Maximum Sound big up.
You set up your own label. Why did you move into production?
It's something natural. Because sometimes I wanted to sing songs and the producer wasn't there. So I put myself in the shoes of the artist and the producer. It's better for me as an artist to work for myself because nobody knows you better than you know yourself. If somebody can get the best out of you, why couldn't you get it for yourself? My label 9mile Thugs has a lot of meanings. Nine Mile is the place where Bob Marley was born (in St Ann). And I'm from St Ann myself. T-H-U-G-S means: True Honest United Genuine Soldiers. That's my definition of 9mile Thugs. We're trying to launch a clothing line like G-Unit, it's 9mile Clothing, and there's 9mile Films because I'm writing a film called Entertainer. So you have 9mile Films, 9mile Records, 9mile Clothing: I'm trying to do things on a big scale.
You have worked with many sounds in Jamaica, the United States or Europe...
In France, I've worked with Subionic, Heartical Sound, Good Vibes, Booyaka Sound. In New York, there's Shakalita Sound, Cinemax, Blunt Posse, Lion Heart. In Jamaica, back then it was sounds like Tommy Phonic, Turbo Charge, Eloquence. I work with a wide variety of sounds because there are so many now. As far as my recordings go, I don't have a favourite sound, I work with all the sounds.
A recurring theme in your songs is kung fu or karate. Do you practise martial arts?
My brother did martial arts. As for me, you can't say I really practised. I mostly watched my big brother, he's my mentor. I know a few moves but I'm not a professional like a black belt. I'd say I'm more of a yellow belt (laughs). But for people I'm a black belt: Low mi karate, China mi live, Kung fu etc. For all these songs, the inspiration came to me from my brother and from films.
Can you tell us about what you're up to at the moment and your projects?
As I told you, there's this album with Frenchie called ''Cosa Nostra''. I'm working on a new album for myself that will be called ''War now'', produced by 9mile Thugs. One of the main tracks is War now. I also have new songs on the Bulba label, those are Fat Eyes productions, I have a song on John Shop Records. There are so many labels I work for. I have lots of tunes to release. But the main project is ''War now'', which will come out on 9mile Thugs, all the tracks are produced by Future Troubles.
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