U-Brown took his first steps as a soundboy in King Tubby's sound system. If his style is modelled exactly on that of his master U-Roy, it is deliberate, and it is thanks to this that he was able to sing one day. Indeed, U-Roy, who had broken his arm, could neither sing nor perform on stage for two weeks. That is how U-Brown tried his luck alongside King Tubby. If you haven't had the chance to see this veteran deejay, it's time to make up for it. In the meantime, U-Brown tells us about his experience in the sound systems, and shares his opinions on reggae today.
Can you tell us about your beginnings?
U-Brown Actually, it was a gift I had, but I got the inspiration to express myself thanks to the great U-Roy. When I started out, it took me a year or a little more to become popular and to make records. I became popular thanks to the sound systems, because it wasn't like today, when many deejays can't become known before they release a 45. Back then, we started out in the sound systems, like King Tubbys, Emperor Fitt, Socialist Roots, Jack Ruby, Hi Power, just to mention a few, and the great King Sturgav. And after doing those "Live Dances" with the sounds, as a young teenager coming into the business, the producers started to hear about me. Some of them came to the dances and liked what they heard. The first producer who came to see me was Winston Edwards and I did two songs for him: "Jamaican Tobbaco" and "Wet up your pantsfoot". After those two recordings, I met Yabby U, who lived in Kingston 11. He asked me to do my second set of recordings. So I recorded for him: "Dem a Wolf". Then Bunny Lee, who was the "resident" producer in Tubby's studio, decided to make an album with me, because he liked the way my voice sounded and the way I rode the riddims. The rest is history.
I heard an anecdote that you took the mic almost by chance?
U-Brown I lived in King Tubby's neighbourhood, in Waterhouse, in a community called Tower Hill. A guy who worked on Tubby's sound (his real name was Trevor, but we called him Tower Hill, because he lived in that community) liked my way of singing and spoke to Tubby about me. Because at that time, U-Roy had had an accident: he had broken his leg and was in hospital, so he couldn't take the mic on Tubby's sound. And at that time, Dillinger was one of the best deejays, with "CB200", "Plantation Heights". The party's promoter asked Dillinger to deejay in place of U-Roy, but Tower Hill introduced me to Tubby in person, because I deejayed in the line of U-Roy. So I was invited to the same night that Dillinger was due to perform. It was no disrespect to Dillinger, because he's a brother. Dillinger's style at that time was very good, but it didn't fit with Tubby's sound. So when I performed at that party, people were impressed by my style and so I carried on deejaying for Tubby. So it was a real stroke of luck for me.
What do you think of sound systems like Killamanjaro?
U-Brown I respect that sound a lot, because it is very versatile. It can play rub a dub as well as juggling. What impresses me about Killamanjaro is that, even though they do specials with lots of artists and those artists can do the same specials for different sounds, Killamanjaro's specials always sound different. I have to thank Ricky Trooper for that, because he knows what people want, and that's why Jaro is still alive today.
How can you explain the radical change that has taken place in the sounds?
U-Brown Well, to be honest with you, the people who suggest that sort of thing (shouting down the mic, violent clashes) may be right, up to a point. Sound systems are another form of media, like the radio; it's the ghetto's radio. What the sounds play is also what people think. But it's also that, in a lot of bashments, people live and talk about violence and sex. I like sex, sex is important. But the way they talk about it no longer gives me the impression that it really matters. It makes me think of a game, but not a professional one, an amateur one. I understand that some things are necessary in life, but there are other things too. What I'd like to say to the people who go to these bashments and buy these records without questioning them is that, in my view, people need to live, and sometimes the system would have them do anything to make money, to survive. So when you do certain things to make money, the means by which you survive, you don't enjoy them. It seems to you that you do, but it's only an illusion. Because you don't take the time to live in a natural way, you do things mechanically, and you go wrong by heading in the wrong direction. And that's what leads us towards destruction.
So reggae is there to fight against this mechanical system?
U-Brown Reggae is part of consciousness, which is there to educate and uplift people. As I said earlier, the system pushes you to act in a certain way, their way, and if you don't, you can't survive. But if you're strong enough and you know the things of life, you don't have to follow their path.