DECEMBER 2023 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the December 2023 issue – OUT NOW!
PROTOJE
If I was to single out one Jamaican artist who best represents the island’s current crop of musical talent, it’s Protoje. He’s a gifted songwriter with a talent for production who has his own distinct style as a vocalist. He’s also an engaging performer, has a tremendous work ethic and puts a great deal of thought and creativity into everything he does, whether it’s making an album, shooting a video or managing the careers of artists signed to his own In.Digg.Nation Collective.
After touring extensively during the summer most artists would take a break, yet Protoje has recently launched a children’s book based on one of his songs, and also has two albums out which are better described as re-imaginings, rather than remixes.
But first let’s discuss the book, which is called Here Comes The Morning and has illustrations by Jamaican artist Jonathan Nelson. Inspired by a track off his last album, Third Time’s The Charm, it tells the story of a little girl who asks her father where the sun comes from. Rather than try and explain it, he decides to let her see for herself…
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BRUCE MELODIE
Talk to any reggae and dancehall insider about the current state of their industry and mention of Afrobeats’ rocketing global popularity is bound to enter the conversation before too long. The speed at which this has happened has been staggering and there’s no sign of it slowing down anytime soon.
To date, most of the genre’s flagship names have come from West Africa – especially Nigeria and Ghana – but that situation is changing fast because their East African counterparts are now on the rise too.
Bruce Melodie, who hails from Rwanda, was already tipped to be the first breakout Afrobeats star from East Africa even before introducing himself to international audiences with recent hit When She’s Around [Funga Macho], shared with Shaggy – a serial chartbuster who has an unerring instinct for turning up at exactly the right time, with the right approach and exactly the right partner in rhyme.
MR. BONGO
Digging trips are a part of vinyl lore. The intrepid, dusty fingered DJ, producer or collector takes a plane to a fabled 45 and 33rpm Mecca in the Americas, be it north, south or central, in order to unearth the albums that are as ‘rare as hen’s teeth’ in the barren lands of Britain.
David Buttle did just that in the late 80s. In fact, he traveled very far indeed.
“I started buying Latin albums from Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil,” he tells me from his home in Brighton. “The jazz dance and salsa scenes were both in full swing then. It was time to open a store.”
Indeed it was. As with all good things in the world of retail a name is as priceless as a bird with good dentistry. Buttle, who had also had the experience of trawling for tunes on behalf of no less an iconic outlet than Jazzie B’s Soul To Soul in Camden, North London, decided that his emporium would be called Mr. Bongo…
AARON TAYLOR
It’s around four o’clock on a Friday afternoon when Aaron Taylor taps me on the shoulder outside my local train station in south-east London and shakes my hand. Two minutes later we’re sitting down with a pint and large glass of red in a nearby pub, ready to discuss the man’s quiet rise from aspiring songwriter and producer to copiously streamed artist in his own right. Honestly, this doesn’t feel much like working for a living.
Aaron has just come fresh from a studio session. Recently he’s been collaborating on material with Jones and, all being well, we’ll be hearing some of that early next year. But it’s his own new EP – actually, at nine tracks it feels almost like a full album – Have A Nice Day that is the reason for our meeting. Led by the insanely catchy title tune and featuring a strong set of songs that sit contentedly on the junctions between soul, neo-soul, pop and [occasionally] gospel, it’s another strong addition to his growing catalogue of solo projects…
