BY TEINO EVANS, Staff Reporter
Alkebulan, (left) and musician Ansel Collins. - CONTRIBUTED
HIS REAL NAME is RA-UMI-ALKE-BU-LAN, and he is Jamaican.
But just like his name, "the original name for the place they call Africa,", he has been working to make a difference in the sound of reggae/dancehall music.
"As a producer, what I want to do is to create a new music from the old sound, that is roots, rock, reggae," Alke-bu-lan, as he is more commonly called, said.
"I love live music, because it gives the human feel and that's why I work with the musical pioneers because they are good and understand their craft. The older musicians, they understand, you can tell them what you want and they play it," he added.
Being in the music industry since 1996, Alke-bu-lan, has worked with countless number of artistes and musicians.
"I have worked as publicist for artistes like Fantan Mojah, Junior Kelly, DYCR and currently with the likes of Richie Ramsay and Natural Black and we always do work with Dwight Pickney," Alke-bu-lan said.
Where musicians are concerned, he has done work with the likes of Cat Core, Dean Frazer, Robbie Shakespeare, Ansel Collins, Bungo Herman, Scully, Mark Stephenson and a host of others.
LEARNED A LOT
"It was great working with these guys and as a young producer, I learned a lot from the elders, because they are the pioneers in the music. Working with them, you cannot question their ability, and this will set the pace for my product," Alke-bu-lan said.
Now, with a wealth of experience, Alke-bu-lan has developed two labels on his own, Alke-bu-lan Sounds From The Continents and MWASI SAUTI RECORDS meaning 'A Rebel Sound' or 'Rebellious Music'. The name is taken from Swahili, the language of Somalia.
According to Alke-bu-lan, the two labels were designed to suit different purposes.
"Alke-bu-lan Sounds From The Continent (formed in 2000) is more of a political label, the music produced there will be deep and filled with social commentary. Only specific artistes doing concept songs and albums will be produced on that label, whereas MWASI SAUTI RECORDS is more for releasing just singles," he explained.
So far, under his Alke-bu-lan Sounds From The Continent label, Alke-bu-lan has produced songs for artistes like Nkosi (Different World), a new and upcoming artiste whom he manages and produces, The Asante by Cat Core and Yaa Asante Wa by Ansel Collins, and will also be producing albums for Scully Simms.
Under his MWASI SAUTI RECORDS, however, he produced Fantan Mojah's Fire Child and Scully Simms' Africa For The Africans.
"Both songs have been doing well, in fact, for the first single that came out (Fire Child) we did three mixes of it, a techno, club and reggae mix all on original rhythms. They have been getting good airplay both locally and abroad, especially abroad, in places like London, Australia and the U.S.," he said.
According to Alke-bu-lan, the entire music industry should keep an ear out, as they can expect to hear some new, refreshing sounds in roots, rock,reggae music.
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