INTERVIEW : ANTHONY B
Interview by : Sébastien Jobart
Pictures by : Karl Joseph
on Monday, April 25th 2005 - 16 015 views
His latest album, "Untouchable", takes liberties with reggae. Determined to spread his message as far as possible, Anthony intends to win a wider audience through a cross-over between reggae and rap. It is the only way, he tells us, to get those people to listen. Anthony B refers to himself in the third person, and he is not wearing a turban when we catch him as he steps off the bus. Tired, he kindly goes along with the questions and answers. A chance to talk at greater length about his philosophy, his convictions, and this improbable latest album.
Reggaefrance / You make a lot of references and tributes to Peter Tosh and Bob Marley, not to mention the many features with roots artists... Are they your spiritual fathers?
Anthony B / The foundations of everything must be respected. What Bob Marley created is still alive, it lives in us. It's more than music, it's a philosophy, like what you find in the Bible. It's like being part of the Bible, in the time of Moses and Solomon. Knowing that you can take part in all that, play a role in it, keep this work alive, this work that lives in us...
What I mean is, if you don't love your father or your mother, you can't be happy. If you don't respect Bob Marley, Peter Tosh or Toots & The Maytals, all those artists, it's as if you don't know what you're doing. As a rastaman, if you don't know where you come from, you can't know where you're going. That's why I respect them so much. What they created lives in us, stops us from being foolish, helps us to be wise. Purely through music. The music of those artists is the first positive cultural influence we had growing up in Jamaica.
You don't just respect them, you carry on their message too...
For me, there is only one work, carried on by different people at different times. Bob Marley was the first to leave such a legacy. He would be proud to see his work being carried on, because it's a masterpiece that influences the whole world. He inspired us, his music inspired us. It made us study History to learn historical facts, listen to songs to get biblical references. All these things are true, they are facts. That man didn't just sing, he studied too. He wasn't just sitting there saying to himself ''this is how I feel'' or ''oh, that girl is pretty''. He studied History, science, literature. Bob's songs are teachings. He didn't only think about himself; he contemplated the world around him and tried to understand it.
Is music a weapon?
It's an instrument. It's the most beautiful instrument we have. We don't want to be Knights of the Round Table, fighting with swords, guns or bombs. The best instrument of influence is music. Before you're even educated, before you speak several languages, before you can read or write, you can listen to music. In the early days of teaching children, music played an important part in making them want to learn. Music is vital, even at school. It's everywhere: in clubs, at dances, in politics, in church... Music is universal. Sometimes people don't understand the words of a song. But the music, the beat, the emotion, mean that you can know what the song is trying to say. Maybe some will want to learn that language they don't understand. Many people learned English to understand what Bob was saying.
Fire Pon Rome needs no introduction. How did you react to the death of the Pope?
Rome doesn't only mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the whole system of Catholicism that governs the world today. That colonial system. Rome was the first empire to steal other people's rights, lands and heritage. They dominated countries, changed people's lives, introduced new laws, saying this was the way to go. What Rome did is what the Americans do in Jamaica. It's like the spread of democracy around the world, which changes your opinions.
If I've lived here for millennia and you've lived over there for just as long, if we discover each other, why couldn't we live as neighbours, as we did all those years? I don't have to live by your rules to live in peace or to take part in the march of the world. For millennia we lived side by side, neither knowing the other existed. Now that we know the other exists, why not take the time to get to know each other, to understand each other... If you come to my home saying: this is not a good way to live, to drink or to eat..., that's colonialism. And colonialism denies your right to be human. It's having your rights stolen from you. It's saying: "you have no right to be human." It's stupid. You're attached to ancestors, to roots. Your great-great-great-grandfather lived here, in the same way.
That's imperialism....
That's the Roman method: if you don't live like them, you're not civilised. We were enslaved during the colonisation by Rome. Egypt fell during the colonisation by Rome. Colonising a country is not helping it to preserve its roots, its heritage. It's depriving it of them, purely to make money, to meet investment targets. We talk about this ''systemical system'' which is the spiritual aspect of Rome. Look at the people of Mexico starving. The richest banks are run by the Vatican, the World Bank. There is such a Mafia, so much money... It's criminal money, they killed humanity to make that money.
Then they come and give speeches preaching righteousness and goodness. They make the same speeches as politicians. Since you behave like a politician, promise me a way to have peace and I'll know that you can change things. If you have the power to change things, do it. If you don't have that power, then speak about it. It's not a problem of Whites against Blacks, nor a religious problem. I don't believe in religion. Religion is the opinion of people.
If one day the Pope is Black, will you keep singing ''Burn The Pope''?
Yes, because it doesn't depend on the Pope but on what he represents. If I wake up and, like Christ, I say: ''give your riches to the poor and follow me'', you will follow me. You can't not follow me, because you can't stay sleeping in a comfortable bed while your flock is out in the snow and the rain. So what kind of philosophy is that? It's not a philosophy that preaches ''righteousness''. It's not what is written in the Bible, it's not what Christ talked about. It's not the way He lived. If he preached a life as the Bible describes it, he might have some meaning. But if you don't represent the people properly...
Are you still a Bobo? What does that represent today?
Yes. The Bobo is like a priest of the Rastafarian movement. A priest who prays for salvation, who respects the holy day of the Sabbath. From six in the morning on Friday until the next day, he withdraws from the world and devotes his time to the Most High. He is a man who goes in search, and devotes his energy to prayer on that day. In the rasta movement, many people accept the philosophies but don't delve deeper into the roots, the tradition.
In every tradition there is a spiritual aspect, and that's what the Bobos represent for the Rastafarian movement. The Twelve Tribes are more the governmental aspect, travelling all over the planet, pushing doors open and breaking down barriers so that rastas can move around everywhere and be recognised abroad. The Nyahbinghi are the ones who retreat into the hills and play the drums. The Bobo is a priest who respects the Sabbath, who upholds the spiritual principles. He shows the way, how to dress when you pray. It's no different from what Bob Marley did. He is a man who tries to step back from the world.
But you're not a priest...
Anthony B, Junior Reid, Capleton, Sizzla, all those Bobo Shantis are ambassadors of the movement. We are the ones who come all the way here to make the Bobo Shanti movement known. Because the priest must not travel. He must be available 24 hours a day for advice, for a prayer.
Shouldn't you wear the turban permanently?
I always wear the turban. We wear it to pray. Like a chef who goes into his kitchen and covers his head. It's an object of prayer. But we wear it every day because you can feel like praying at any time. If you're on the motorway, you want to pray and you don't want to stop... It's not something you are obliged to wear everywhere and all the time. It's a choice we make. Prayer is the best protection in today's world, so you may feel like praying at any moment.
Would you go on stage without your turban?
Yes. I could. Because it's not a part of me. The Sabbath was made for Man, not the other way round. Rules are for fools and discretion is for the wise. It's a commandment. He showed us the way, but he did not lay down a prohibition.
Are you aware of the agreement between the labels and the gay rights organisations?
I don't really know. I'm on the road, I haven't heard about it. It doesn't ring a bell. You know me: I'm devoted to Rastafari and to roots. I'm not one of those who try to dominate dancehall. I do a few now and then for fun, but it's not a goal. I think my work, my mission, is not accomplished. I must not stray from it. The best accomplishment of such a mission is when your words become like food for generations to come. When they say to themselves: ''That's the life he's talking about''. That's what I try to put into my music: life.
Your new album, ''Untouchable'', is a crossover between reggae and rap.
It's to show the world the spirit of the artist, to get inside it. It's on a new label called Togertheness, which aims to bring together people of all races, all colours. It's the only way for these people to hear the message. We're not trying to make music with no roots, or to invade another culture. We're trying to get the message across, and that means accepting other people's culture. We made hip hop beats with hip hop artists so that Americans would say to themselves: ''Anthony B listens to hip hop, I didn't know that''. Same with the rock audience. We show that we don't just sit listening to reggae, that we listen to other music. It casts the net wider.
For me, you have to show young generations the versatility of the music. That's what you saw in Burning Spear or Bob Marley and didn't see in others. Or Toots who, at a festival, plays mento, reggae... That's what makes you a legend, one day. Sometimes going against people's opinion, and making them dance.
You had already tried this kind of adventure with ''Seven Seals'', which turned towards pop.
It was to captivate another audience. You have to take your time, maybe they'll like it later? With time comes a new audience, which may appreciate the music more. For me, reggae is good music. But at the moment, it lacks creativity. All these versions of Studio One and Channel One riddims... Sometimes you have to create a beat with a current sound, a classic reggae rhythm, but with that fresh side. A song that was badly received can become a classic ten years later.
We're trying to establish ourselves internationally. What I'm trying to achieve is not to push Anthony B. When one artist breaks through, he opens the door for ten or fifteen others. That's what I witnessed in the early 90s, alongside Shabba Ranks. He opened doors for Supercat, Lieutnant Stitchie, Cobra (Shabba Ranks's success, signed to Epic, opened up new prospects for ragga artists, notably in the USA. Supercat and Cobra each had an album on Columbia - editor's note). There was a sort of organisation of Jamaican artists looking for success.
There is a large new generation coming up in Jamaica: Fantan Mojah, Bascom X, I Wayne, Perfect, Natty King...
That's why I've worked all these years. To see ten or fifteen new cultural artists emerge, who can bring a new vibe to the world, something new to reggae. The people who emerge in reggae will be even more positive, they will believe in a more positive impact of the music. It's a better energy than all those negative spirits who question our love of the music... They're there complaining: ''it's violent''; oh really? It's time for us to break that perception of the music.
Aren't you afraid they'll take your place?
No man, for me they are extra soldiers. One more arm on the battlefield. It's as if they were preparing on the back lines, and once they're armed enough, they'd come and help us... They are the reinforcements.
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