The thing about places like Trinidad and Jamaica is that they can be very musically insular. There isn't much space for kids making hip-hop, electronic music, or hybrid genres.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In Jamaica, them always have throwback riddims, recycled old beats, and the hardcore reggae scene is always present. You have faster stuff like the more commercialized stuff, but you always have that segment of music that is always from the core, from the original root of it.
The majority of the high schools and the public schools in N.Y.C. don't even have band programs. Hip-hop in a lot of ways is an outgrowth of a lack of instruments and a desire to play music, so we can't really fault the kids for that.
I'm a huge reggae fan. I want to go to Jamaica and make, like, Bob Marley 'One Love' positive songs. That's what the world needs.
Reggae goes in and out. It sounds so good, it feels so good and feels so tropical, but the problem is not everybody is Caribbean. Not everyone is going to sound authentic doing it, and sometimes it comes off cheesy when other people do it.
Every musician tries to blend in some reggae. It's the only music that brings all people together, different races, different religions.
Some children's music is aimed just at kids, and it can be very childlike.
If reggae comes from another country, you can have the relationship to reggae that I have to rock. But it's something I grew up with. It's probably something I appreciate more now. In the '80s, I was all about New Wave and synth pop - New Order and Depeche Mode and Eurythmics and Michael Jackson and tons and tons and tons of Prince.
Music is like the genius of humankind, universal... People who have never really taken the time to get into music, their lives are a lot smaller. Kids deserve the richness and dimension of it in their lives.
Recording in Jamaica is like nothing else. The studios are always closed in America. But in Jamaica, the studio doors are wide open, and there's music blasting out in the street. You can see the reaction of people immediately.
The U.K. is one of the places that has always been an advocate of my music and I spend a lot of time touring here. I've got family and friends over here, but more than that, there's a large Jamaican community and the Jamaican culture is very widespread in the U.K. which I love.