Post by kaya on Jun 24, 2006 20:52:46 GMT -5
Baby Cham fires back
We admit it, Baby Cham got us good.
by Michael A Edwards
Friday, June 23, 2006
We were all set, going into an interview, to pin the popular and durable DJ (admittedly one of our favourites) on the matter of his current hit, Ghetto Story (released late 2005), which speaks, in glowing terms, of criminal exploits and other vagaries of innercity life (with its signature line "we get de ting dem!")
But the wily toaster gave as good as he got. "I read about a man like Sir Henry Morgan, his whole career was violence and robbery and all of that is documented and nobody not saying it shouldn't be recorded or mentioned," Cham retorted.
baby Cham
Indeed, the pirate-turned privateer Morgan was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica for his troubles and died in relative obscurity. For his troubles, Baby Cham is being sought after by reggae-dancehall fans at home and overseas, with an obscure demise a highly unlikely eventuality.
The response raises, in his own particular style, the issue of state-sponsored violence, still a vexed issue some three centuries after Morgan's heyday. It may not make the song any more palatable, but it's a valid point. Further, Cham said even though the song describes criminal acts and thuggery, those are not a part of his personal make-up and neither does he endorse them.
"These are things that happen and are still happening now," the artiste said, amidst his stomping grounds and still frequent base, Sherlock Crescent in Duhaney Park. "When I put it in the song I am makin' people know who might not be aware and others who need to be reminded," he said.
"I'm also saying, that is one way you could go, but look at me. I personally never go that way and a man can elevate out of where him is."
And elevate he has. Ghetto story is still enjoying chart success in the US, bolstered by remix featuring Senegal-born rapper Akon.
A second remix, this time alongside multiple Grammy-winner Alicia Keys, is up next. Following on the heels of Ghetto Story is Rude Boy Pledge, in which he promises not to forget his roots, to not "get rich and turn punk" in the inimitable turn of phrase that has been his hallmark since he first emerged on the dancehall scene a little over ten years ago.
Since then, hits such as Desperate Measures, Babylon Bwoy and Man and Man have been punctuated by periods of rest and in recent years, a stint as pitchman for mobile giant Digicel.
Signed to Atlantic Records, Cham would normally be looking at a hectic performance and appearance schedule overseas, especially with an album set to drop [August 15],but he asked the company to leave the month of June open, in order to facilitate his Giving Back campaign here in Jamaica.
"Yeah, is just our way of showing our appreciation to the people that make we who we are," he explained. "We did it before where we gave copies of the CD, but this time we decided to do a little more so we give the CD (a compilation of Cham and his compadres on the Madhouse label) and a grocery bag."
The jaunt has taken Cham and his team across the island (they returned from Mobay a mere ten hours before our interview), performing and dispensing goods, and there are more to come. The response, he says, has been very positive and enthusiastic, as one might expect, given the popularity of the single and the artiste's track record.
Having been so deftly parried, we attempt one last lunge: Given the song's popularity in the US, how is it that American audiences are comfortable with a Jamaican DJ talking about violence and robbery, but hostile to a Jamaican DJ speaking against homosexuality?
"Well, they can relate to it, because ghetto story is a universal ting.
When I was recording the remix with Alicia Keys, she talk about how she used to have to eat white rice and honey because at the time, dem couldn't do any better. That's how it is and that's why people love it."
The self-professed avid reader is now going through The Da Vinci Code. Who can guess what kind of lyrical onslaughts that will prompt? Stay tuned.
Taken fron the Jamaica Observer
www.jamaicaobserver.com
See Cham at the Seabreeze Festival in July-Long Beach Ca.
We admit it, Baby Cham got us good.
by Michael A Edwards
Friday, June 23, 2006
We were all set, going into an interview, to pin the popular and durable DJ (admittedly one of our favourites) on the matter of his current hit, Ghetto Story (released late 2005), which speaks, in glowing terms, of criminal exploits and other vagaries of innercity life (with its signature line "we get de ting dem!")
But the wily toaster gave as good as he got. "I read about a man like Sir Henry Morgan, his whole career was violence and robbery and all of that is documented and nobody not saying it shouldn't be recorded or mentioned," Cham retorted.
baby Cham
Indeed, the pirate-turned privateer Morgan was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica for his troubles and died in relative obscurity. For his troubles, Baby Cham is being sought after by reggae-dancehall fans at home and overseas, with an obscure demise a highly unlikely eventuality.
The response raises, in his own particular style, the issue of state-sponsored violence, still a vexed issue some three centuries after Morgan's heyday. It may not make the song any more palatable, but it's a valid point. Further, Cham said even though the song describes criminal acts and thuggery, those are not a part of his personal make-up and neither does he endorse them.
"These are things that happen and are still happening now," the artiste said, amidst his stomping grounds and still frequent base, Sherlock Crescent in Duhaney Park. "When I put it in the song I am makin' people know who might not be aware and others who need to be reminded," he said.
"I'm also saying, that is one way you could go, but look at me. I personally never go that way and a man can elevate out of where him is."
And elevate he has. Ghetto story is still enjoying chart success in the US, bolstered by remix featuring Senegal-born rapper Akon.
A second remix, this time alongside multiple Grammy-winner Alicia Keys, is up next. Following on the heels of Ghetto Story is Rude Boy Pledge, in which he promises not to forget his roots, to not "get rich and turn punk" in the inimitable turn of phrase that has been his hallmark since he first emerged on the dancehall scene a little over ten years ago.
Since then, hits such as Desperate Measures, Babylon Bwoy and Man and Man have been punctuated by periods of rest and in recent years, a stint as pitchman for mobile giant Digicel.
Signed to Atlantic Records, Cham would normally be looking at a hectic performance and appearance schedule overseas, especially with an album set to drop [August 15],but he asked the company to leave the month of June open, in order to facilitate his Giving Back campaign here in Jamaica.
"Yeah, is just our way of showing our appreciation to the people that make we who we are," he explained. "We did it before where we gave copies of the CD, but this time we decided to do a little more so we give the CD (a compilation of Cham and his compadres on the Madhouse label) and a grocery bag."
The jaunt has taken Cham and his team across the island (they returned from Mobay a mere ten hours before our interview), performing and dispensing goods, and there are more to come. The response, he says, has been very positive and enthusiastic, as one might expect, given the popularity of the single and the artiste's track record.
Having been so deftly parried, we attempt one last lunge: Given the song's popularity in the US, how is it that American audiences are comfortable with a Jamaican DJ talking about violence and robbery, but hostile to a Jamaican DJ speaking against homosexuality?
"Well, they can relate to it, because ghetto story is a universal ting.
When I was recording the remix with Alicia Keys, she talk about how she used to have to eat white rice and honey because at the time, dem couldn't do any better. That's how it is and that's why people love it."
The self-professed avid reader is now going through The Da Vinci Code. Who can guess what kind of lyrical onslaughts that will prompt? Stay tuned.
Taken fron the Jamaica Observer
www.jamaicaobserver.com
See Cham at the Seabreeze Festival in July-Long Beach Ca.