Nelly Furtado’s manager Chris Smith is a man on a mission
*Jamaican-born artiste manager and producer Chris Smith is a man on a mission. Smith currently manages international pop star Nelly Furtado as well as Canada-based reggae/pop artiste Jarvis Church; rhythm and blues singer Tamia; Courtney John formerly known as Yogie; and sister duo Brick and Lace.
Smith has taken the expertise from his business background into running a full-fledged management firm and production entity Chris Smith Management. The company is based in Canada. Smith has a lot of plans for Jamaican music including a variety show which will be syndicated overseas. This column caught up with Smith recently where he spoke about the future for Brick and Lace and Courtney John, the television variety show, and the working with a major pop star such as Nelly Furtado.
Kevin Jackson: What projects are you currently working on?
Chris Smith: I'm getting set to launch Brick and Lace, Courtney John and Jarvis Church. I am also in the midst of producing a music variety show. In all my global travels, I see a void in the music. The world needs more Jamaican music on a consistent basis. The variety show will be having auditions for dancers. It will be filled with performances and dancing. It's going to be over the top.
KJ: Speaking of the variety show, which television station will it air in Jamaica?
CS: We haven't finalised that as yet, but it will be syndicated globally.
KJ: Fill us in on this charity venture that you will be pursuing.
CS: I saw that there was a gap in music education, and I am establishing a non profit organisation to gather funds for music education. This country's natural resource is music. We need to develop and create more wicked musicians like the next Sly and Robbie.
KJ: What are some of your plans where Brick and Lace are concerned?
CS: There's two dimensions to them. It was important for the girls to establish themselves in Jamaica. We didn't want to go too far on the pop end without the Jamaican side being established. They have won most of the major awards in Jamaica and their video for Love Is Wicked is averaging 4.7 million hits on youtube. In April they will be touring the UK and Europe. A lot of people aren't aware how popular Brick and Lace are globally. I don't want to cross them over too quick and forget their roots.
KJ: How difficult or challenging has it been to manage an international pop star like Nelly Furtado?
CS: It's a challenge to maintain her business structure. She is a diamond seller and she has outsold a lot of artistes. She is really big globally and we have a massive team of people who work with her. We have a dedicated stylist, make-up person, security, road manager, tour manager and production manager. She even has a favourite pilot for her private jet.
KJ: What do you think about the current state of the music industry where records aren't really selling like once?
CS: The music industry is sort of reshuffling. I think it's exciting times. When there is a shift in mediums the way consumers receive music, people get nervous. I believe that once people understand what the digital era is about to bring to us and how efficient it is, we'll settle down. People will always need music. In Jamaica we need to train more. We have an abundance of talent here and we need more business people to get involved.
KJ: Have you seen any new talent here in Jamaica that you would want to work with?
CS: Attitude is the most important thing when working with an artiste. Attitude is everything. I've seen a few videos since I have been here and we plan to check out some of the artistes.
KJ: How did you get your start in the industry?
CS: I used to be in the financial sector and I decided to transfer that skill into the music industry. I went to college for marketing and when I felt I was seasoned enough, I started dabbling on the music front. I played the trumpet when I was in high school.
KJ: What's your Jamaican connection?
CS: I am originally from Annotto Bay in St. Mary. I moved to Canada many years ago.
KJ: Tell us about this upcoming concert you plan to have here in Jamaica with Nelly Furtado
CS: Nelly will be coming down for a concert to raise funds for music education here in Jamaica. She's been wanting to come to perform in Jamaica for sometime now. She 's also right in the mix because she has done her dub plates for Swatch International, she has done reggae remixes of most of her hits, and she has worked with Courtney John.
The return of dancehall reggae artiste Patra
*Musician and producer Paul Henton, better known as Computer Paul, whose credits include rhythm projects such as the Frog, Corduroy and the M 16, and chart hits including Jimmy Cliff's I Can See Clearly Now, Inner Circle's Sweat and Bad Boys, and George Nooks' rendition of God Is Standing By, has been working on several projects.
Henton recently received a platinum plaque for his work on Hip Hop/R&B superstar Akon's multi-platinum album Konvicted. Current projects for the in-demand musician include an album with 1990s female Dancehall star Patra, who is now once again signed to a major label.
Patra who rode the Billboard charts in the 1990’s with songs including Pull Up to the Bumper, Romantic Call (with Yo Yo); Think (with Lyn Collins); Scent of Attraction (with Aaron Hall); and Worker Man, hasn’t scored a hit in many years.
Henton also has production credits on several songs at the moment including Hold On by Nature for Jamaican football star Ricardo Gardner's Heart Of Love label, and Looking For Love by Patriot for Grass Roots Records.
Hypa Active Clique take top honours in Dancin Dynamites finale
The lives of Dwight Coates (Red Fashion) and Rohan Youngsam (J-Fame) have been changed forever. The duo known in dancing circles as Hypa Active Clique, came out on top at the just concluded Dancin Dynamites finals.
Apart from winning a cash prize of US$6,0000 cash and other prizes totally the duo had their sights set on the prize of a scholarship to attend the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts. ‘Our main reason for entering the Dancin Dynamites competition was because we wanted to win the scholarship to attend Edna Manley so we could further our dancing. We really wanted to push our career further’, an excited Youngsam told this writer shortly after the finals last recently.
Asked how he felt about winning Coates said ‘It feels really wonderful. We put in a lot of hard work and determination and we have come out on top. We want to say thanks to all of our supporters, fans, all the people who voted for us, the whole Clarendon and Vitamalt for sponsoring us’.
Hypa Active Clique hails from May Pen, Clarendon. ‘We bring it fi di whole a Clarendon and we can’t believe say we deh pon top’, said Youngsam.
Jennifer ‘Jenny Jenny’ Small, Executive Producer for Dancin Dynamites said the main objective for staging the competition was to highlight the talent of dancers across the island. She said that the objective has been realized. We have so many singing competitions and yet the dancers didn’t have their own stage. Now dancers are getting their own gigs. We are not only the reggae capital of the world, but we are also the dancing capital of the world and we are proud of that’, Small said.
Mario C on the go with Equator and Rain Drops
Award winning music producer Mario Campbell better known as Mario C, has two new projects which have been making some noise at radio. The producer who won the EME Award earlier this year for Best Dancehall Producer, has been working hard in the studio to match the success he enjoyed last year.
Last year his 357 Records imprint scored big with Beenie Man’s Back It; Give it Up by Beenie Man and Barbee; and Anthon B’s Tease Her.
Mario C’s latest projects are the Equator and Raindrops. The Equator is a high energy dancehall beat which features some of dancehall's hottest acts including Beenie Man, Anthony B, Voicemail, T.O.K., Future Fambo and Erup as well as upcoming artists from the 357 camp including, Versatile, Martina, Jahvinci and Kantana. There are also tracks by Cezar and Monster Empire.
The Raindrops is a one drop rhythm project which features songs from D-Major, Iceman and Christopher Martin, Voicemail, T.O.K., Cezar, Gyptian, Daville, Martina, Jahvinci, Peter Morgan, and Sizzla among others.