Capleton Says Artistes Should Stick To The Roots

Having been to the outposts of Jamaican music from its point of origin, he is critical of the fusion sound being pushed by many younger deejays and producers.

"At the end of the day, what is happening here, it ain't happening certain place in the world. No one know it y'nuh," Capleton said.

the artistes wish to speak the truth, nuff time them go out there and nobody no see dem. And them deh pon stage a perform an' the people nah feel dem, cause de people no know dem either."

With that muted response, Capleton is seeing a turnaround in the focus of several entertainers. "Right now mi can tell you every artiste inna Jamaica a plan fe do one drop; every artiste, both singer an' who a deejay. When dem go out dere dem realise what de people want and what connect to the people and what the people gravitate to," he said.

The highlight of the star Tribute Series was a performance at Club Impulse last month. On the night,
Capleton performed with Munga and Romain Virgo, the latter earning his praise for his latest album.

"Romain ting take off out deh. The people them love him. One drop music stand out predominant. This is the music that people can feel. The soul, the spirituality and the message," he said.

Capleton has stuck to the roots on his latest album, I-Ternal Fire, which is yet to be released in Jamaica, although Capleton says that it is doing well in Africa, the United States and across Europe.

"Me need fe have a album launch in Jamaica and present it to the people. Is a one-drop roots and culture album. It is my first time ever doing a roots album straight through - no dancehall, no crossover, nothing," he said.

Already well established in a long music career, Capleton says that a decade from now he sees himself doing music but also venturing into entrepreneurship. Among the business areas he is looking at are farming and hardware operations. "We are all about building and developing," he said. "I want to go into the water thing too, bottled water. I want to do the real estate thing too.

"St Mary a de first priority. We nah sell out de heritage an' de culture. Anyweh we nabel string cut we haffi make sure we develop it," he said.

source:http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110608/ent/ent2.html