|
Got feedback? Send email to OZONEMAG@hotmail.com or mail: PO Box 677722, Orlando, FL 32867 |
A voice more thunderous and deafening
than an elephant stampede. Lyrics delivered more on point than Fed Ex after a work stoppage. A face your girl probably drools over when she’s not busy listening to you nag. This is Baby Cham, one of Jamaica’s finest dancehall artists. Known from his days of calling out all the skettelz for their whorish behavior, and most recently, for frowning on gays and rebelling against police. Most people respect him for his music, while other dancehall acts despise him for his ability to mix hip-hop with dancehall so effortlessly. Even after being attacked publicly by his old friend Rodney Price, aka Bounty Killa, he still managed to shake that off and resurge with a new goal in mind - to take his music to another level. I caught up with Cham before Namebrand Promotion’s Independence Day show at Caribbean Sunshine Lounge, where backstage sat the likes of Frankie Sly, Louie Culture, Mr. Vegas, Red Rat, and Chico (respect Charmaine), and I got to shoot a couple of questions to him OZONE style.First off, let the people know how long you’ve been in the dancehall scene?
Well, professionally, 6 years.
Six years! Sounds like you’ve been out longer, man.
Fi real….
How do you think that you’ve stayed so fresh and new amongst today’s younger artists?
Well I think it’s just the label, because they give me the chance to put out only two songs for the year, or sometimes even one. If I was doing ten or twelve per year my style would probably become monotonous. It keeps people wanting more.
For a long time now, you and Dave Kelly have been making hits together. Are there any other producers that you’d like to work with?
Naw, I haven’t really heard any dancehall producers I’d like to work with. Fi real, no disrespect still, but to me Dave Kelly is at the top of dancehall. If anything I would be looking to work with someone who has emerged ahead of Dave Kelly and right now I don’t see anyone in dancehall that is at that point yet. On the other hand, when you talk about music on a whole, you can’t have any limitations. I’d like to work with Dr. Dre, as far as hip-hop goes.
Your music is respected by hip-hop heavyweights, and people around the globe. Where do you plan to take this success?
Well, it’s only Father God alone and time can see where we will possibly take this, but the aim is to take it to the point where everyone will respect the music and give it the same amount of push and recognition that any other type of music gets.
"Another Level," was the complete album, what do you plan to do differently to top that classic?
That album is hard to top. I’m just going to try and take it from where we left off and raise it to another level.
On a different note I’ve noticed that Busta Rhymes’ camp also has a rapper named Baby Cham. Does that hurt your notoriety or album sales in any way?
Naw, the guy in Busta Rhymes’s camp is not established and my name is licensed. It would be best for him to find another name, no disrespect or anything - much love still. But that can’t cause me any harm.
On that note, where did you get the name Baby Cham from?
One of my friend’s sisters named Tricia in about 1990.
I know that you and Bounty Killa have had your differences, but you were still a great combination. Do you see any possibility you to reconcile and make music again?
You can’t have feuds get in between the music, so if it ever came to the point where we had to make a song together, then yeah, we’ll make the song. But he and I personally, like how we used to be close? Naw.