Interview & pictures : Sergio Marigomez
A meeting with one of the big voices of dancehall, best known for his successful combinations with artists such as Bounty Killer and Merciless. Despite numerous hits for the best producers in Jamaica, Future Troubles has still not released an album, which explains why he remains little known to the general public. Reggae France.com went to find him in London...
Reggaefrance / For those who don't know you yet, could you introduce yourself...
Future Troubles / My real name is Warren Williams aka Future Troubles. I was born in the parish of St Ann, which gave birth to artists and prophets such as Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley. I was inspired by my uncle "The Astronaut", who sang well-known tunes in a Jamaican festival group such as "Born Jamaicans" (he sings the tune)... Yeah, you know, lots of people know that tune!! That's what inspired me; after that I started singing at school, then in young talent contests at Roof International, where I got noticed with the tune "Hiahiao", better known on vinyl as "Kung Fu". My first recording was made with Barry O'Hare for the X-terminator label... Er... X-rated... the label that produced the Burning Spear album that won a Grammy Award... Prezident Brown, Tanya Stephens and Professor Frisky... and a few others...
I suppose you started working with sound systems...
Yes, I sang with Bass Odyssey Sound, Eloquence, Mellow, Turbophonic and Tommyphonic... I mainly toured with St Ann sounds. I often went to see Jack Ruby to listen to artists such as Tiger, Lieutenant Stitchie and Wolfman... my favourite artists at the time were Tiger, Ninjaman and Beenie Man.
Was your first vinyl hit the song "Kung Fu"?
Yes, that was my first hit. You know, originally I'm a dancer... So one day, on my way to Roof International, I rented a video cassette with a kung fu star whose name I've forgotten... It was the story of a girl whose parents get killed and who goes to Japan to seek the protection of a kung fu master. The first evening the guy takes the girl to a club... and there, they start dancing... Then the guy starts jumping all over the place and so do I!! I said to myself, wow!! That's Kung Fu, the new dance!! I was over the moon!! So I put on some clothes and started practising in my neighbourhood, adding the lyrics 'Hia!' 'Kung fu dance!!'. People reacted well and I won talent contests with it, then we released it on the Roof International label, and it instantly became a number one.
Your next hit is the one that made you world famous, "Kill a Sound" with Bounty Killer...
Yes, that tune came out on Bounty Killer's label, "Priceless"...
We also saw it circulating under Winston Riley's label, "Technique"...
Listen up!! A great many royalties were siphoned off in this affair!! I had warned Bounty that Riley no longer wanted to release anything on the original Stalag... Bounty took no notice and came to an arrangement with Riley... In fact, Riley copied the tune from a vinyl onto DAT and then reissued it on his own label...
Which explains the poor sound quality of the "Techniques" version...
Yes, but in the meantime Riley still owes me royalties for this tune, and it's still a point of dispute between us to this day... Because it was with Bounty that he had his problem, not with me...
How did you come to meet and work with Bounty Killer?
I was in the studio with Bulby and Bounty turned up... you know, Bounty and I are friends, brothers... he's my nigger, my thug!! I grew up with Fowlie Don, who is a big fan and also a friend of Bounty Killer. The first Bounty dubplate I ever heard, in Ocho Rios, was for his sound, Stereo Two... I wrote a special, went to Kingston, where I met Bounty, who liked the tune... he agreed to do a special for the sound, and by that time we were already friends and hanging out in the studio... someone was mixing the Stalag and, from the tune 'Love, Lova, Lova Gal', I sang 'Kill, Killa, Killa Sound'. Bounty immediately said to me "go on, let's record it on the Stalag!"... That tune was an instant hit!! Since then I've never stopped singing it on stage or on dubplate...
You also had a hit with Tony Curtis, "Can't smoke the weed in peace"...
That tune first came out on the Shocking Vibes label, then Red Rose contacted me to re-sing it on "How Yu Fi Sey Dat". He actually wanted a remix, as the owner of the lyrics, and since I wasn't signed to Shocking Vibes, I agreed... but Shocking Vibes is a very important label in my career, I recorded a lot of tunes for them.
Your latest work includes a collaboration with Maximum Sound's producer, Frenchie...
OK... Frenchie is someone very distant... but he's full of vibes, full of fun... while being very serious about business. When Frenchie asks you for a tune, he doesn't want something conventional, he wants something different... you have to sing him 100 lyrics before he keeps one!! That's how he is, good vibes, intelligence and a real sense of business... he said to me, Future Troubles, you've got a unique voice, you're a good DJ, but you're very... underground, very underrated... I want to record you to make you known to the European public... The vibe was good and I have fond memories of it...
You mean the tune "Knocking at your door"... But you also appear on the interludes of Big Red's album ("Big Redemption") for Frenchie... what's more surprising is that your name isn't credited anywhere on the record...
I'd never heard about that before... By doing that, Frenchie wanted to promote FutureTroubles... And it's thanks to that that people are talking about it today. Frenchie did that because he loves the music, to promote my music... I love Frenchie for that, Frenchie has been good to Future Troubles... yes, Frenchie is good, keepin' it real!! Yeah!!
Do you have an album in the pipeline?
Yes, the album!! Listen well, my brother... Nobody is handling the album, no associated company... this album exists in the mind of Future Troubles, Future Troubles has created in his head a label called 9 Miles Thugz to produce it... I've bought a 24-track and I already have a riddim ready... but I've got some heavy promo coming up. I don't know when it will come out but it will come out on Future Troubles' label. I want to help myself, and that way God will help me. I hope that, on seeing this first album, a record company will want to give me the chance to make another for them...
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