Born: April 17, 1976
Emerging during the latter half of the '90s, the enormously prolific Sizzla was one of the leaders of the conscious dancehall movement. Along with Buju Banton and Capleton, he helped lead dancehall back to the musical and spiritual influence of roots reggae, favoring organic productions and heavily Rastafarian subject matter. A member of the militant Bobo Ashanti sect, he sometimes courted controversy with his strict adherence to their views, particularly his aggressive condemnations of homosexuals and white Western oppressors. Yet overall, his music was generally positive, advocating faith, compassion for poor black youth, and respect for women. He remained something of an enigma to the public at large, rarely granting interviews and keeping his concert appearances to a minimum. Nonetheless, he still ranked as arguably the most popular conscious reggae artist of his time, thanks to a normally high standard of quality control -- all the more impressive given the frequency with which he recorded. A versatile singjay-style vocalist with a gruff, gravelly tone, he was capable of both rapid-fire chatting and powerful, melodic singing, and his best backing riddims were among the strongest in contemporary dancehall.
Sizzla was born Miguel Collins on April 17, 1976, and was raised in the August Town area of Kingston by devout Rastafarian parents. After honing his vocal skills, he landed a gig with the Caveman Hi-Fi sound system, where he first made a name for himself as a performer. He cut his first single for the small Zagalou label in 1995, and soon moved on to Bobby "Digital" Dixon's Digital B imprint. However, he didn't manage a breakout success until saxophonist Dean Fraser recommended him to producer Philip "Fatis" Burrell. Sizzla released a series of singles on Burrell's Xterminator label, including "Judgement Morning," "Life's Road," "Blaspheme," "We Uh Fear," "I'm Not Sure," and the Shadowman duet "The Gun." His first LP, Burning Up, appeared on Xterminator later in 1995, and he toured extensively alongside Luciano and Mikey General. Unlike kindred spirits Capleton and Buju Banton, Sizzla's early material was culturally oriented right from the start; he was able to build an audience without any of the lyrical slackness that helped establish the other two.
Creatively speaking, Sizzla really came into his own with the release of his second album, the Burrell-produced Praise Ye Jah, in 1997. Widely considered one of the top conscious dancehall albums of its time, Praise Ye Jah was quickly trumped by the release of the Dixon-produced Black Woman & Child that same year. The title track was a smash hit and became something of a cultural reggae anthem. Sizzla scored several more hits during 1997, including "Like Mountain," "Babylon Cowboy," "Kings of the Earth," and the Luciano duet "Build a Better World." This hot streak kicked off an enormously productive recording binge that lasted over the next several years, with much of his output still done for Burrell.
1998's Kalonji was issued in the U.S. under the title Freedom Cry, and featured the successful singles "Love Amongst My Brethren" and "Rain Shower." No less than three albums -- Be I Strong, Good Ways, and Royal Son of Ethiopia -- appeared in 1999, with Be I Strong achieving the highest profile among them. 2000 brought three more albums: the double-CD Liberate Yourself (which featured one disc of Sizzla material and another of his protégés), Words of Truth (which featured a bonus live disc), and Bobo Ashanti, a well-received, highly spiritual set with a stronger hip-hop flavor. Refusing to slow down, Sizzla issued four more albums in 2001 -- Black History, Taking Over, Rastafari Teach I Everything, and Blaze Up the Chalwa -- and often displayed a harder edge and a willingness to embrace digital production. That approach changed in 2002, when he concentrated on softer, mellower, more romantic material, which dominated that year's albums: Ghetto Revolution and Da Real Thing. Two more albums, Light of My World and Rise to the Occasion, appeared in 2003. Soul Deep was released in 2005, with both Ain't Gonna See Us Fall and Waterhouse Redemption landing a year later. By the end of 2006 Sizzla released the high-profile The Overstanding, an album with hip-hop impresario Damon Dash as executive producer. I-Space returned the singer to his Jamaican roots in mid-2007. Steve Huey, Rovi
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Sizzla Biography
on Sunday, November 21, 2010ARTIST SPOTLIGHT OF THA WEEK.
on Sunday, November 14, 2010
Born Clifton George Bailey III, Capleton is no longer taken aback that even though he is of African descent, his name is one third English, Greek, and Irish. As a youth growing up, he loved to talk and one day he intervened into a conversation with some of his friends and began to draw some important points. They were very astonished and said to themselves, he must be lawyer Capleton, an infamous lawyer from St Mary at the time. From then on he was stuck with the name which he still uses whenever he makes appearances worldwide. However, it was in 1989 that he got his break even though he believes that he was musically inclined from a youth. He feels that it was the manifestation of Jah that made him choose a career in music, although he was influenced musically by Bob Marley, Bunny Wailor and Peter Tosh. At the time, Papa San was his favorite deejay because he liked the length of his lyrics and so, it inspired him to create longer ones.
Unlike other artists, it didn't take Capleton very long to get his break. In 1989 Father Star had just returned to Jamaica with his sound system African Star to which Capleton got a link. Even though he was unknown at the time, he made his first trip abroad to Canada for a stage show with the likes of Ninjaman and Flourgan. The response from the crowd was great and as he returned to Jamaica he hooked up with Xterminator and did his first 45 called 'Bumbo Red.' The tune became a big hit in the dancehall and soon after more successful ones followed.
In spite of that, we have seen a new Capleton since then. No more do we hear him uttering lyrics degrading women or insinuating any form of violence. Instead, his tunes are created in such a way that they have the capabilities to uplift or direct ones way of life. However, this transformation did not come overnight, even though it seems to be the new trend in the dancehall. According to the deejay, his daughter said Selassie I when she was only three months old. Also, through his experience in life, he has also seen where people tried witchcraft to counter the religion but they were unsuccessful so he went to seek what Rastafari was all about and from it he has gained an enormous amount of know-ledge. Also, to him the word is the power and he felt that too much slackness was in the music which needed to be cleansed and it was through Rastafari that he found the solution to all of the above.
Even though most Rastafarians look alike most of them belong to different orders. There is the Nyabinghi, which chants death to black and white downpressors. There is also Coptic which is the old Orthodox, Twelve Tribe, and Bobo Shanti. However, Capleton sees Rasta as oneness but he endorses the Bobo order because the word Bobo means 'humbleth thou thyself.' In his opinion, Bobo is a man who forms their own delegation, implement their own methods, utilize their own aid, generate their own income, have their own food and water and most of all they do not partake in the system with which Babylon has provided us. To him, all black people are Rastafarians because the word Ras means head and black people are the head of civilization.
In contrast, one may ask the question how can Capleton claim to be so humble or God fearing yet we hear him uttering lyrics lashing out against people like Pope John Paul to the Queen of England. But the deejay declares that he himself cannot 'bun' anyone. Each person only has the ability to 'bun' themselves through their works and their deeds. His intention is to strip the royalty of Babylon because they rewarded us with hatred for our love. They did so by teaching us to rape, steal and kill. For instance, they stole our literature and taught it back to us in a different manner so as to infiltrate our minds with foolishness and other misconceptions. As a result, the men do not see themselves as prince and prophets no more but as punks and guys. The women do not see themselves as queens, princesses or empresses anymore, instead they live like harlots and concubines. Therefore, Capleton strives to retrieve the royalness which Africans are used to by attiring, eating and speaking royal. He states that life has taught him a lot and even though he believes in the Bible he reads it with an open mind a clean heart, a clear conscience and a firm meditation to find his own truth. He recommends that we do the same and not limit ourselves because the original copy has been edited immensely.
The deejay's knowledge seems to be quite extensive which makes it hard to believe that he only went to regular primary and secondary schools in Islington, St Mary. Still, he feels that most of the curriculum that is being taught in schools, will be non-beneficial to the youths in the future. Instead of teaching about Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Napolean and Hitler, they should be taught about themselves with their kings and about the motherland so that they can know where they were coming from in order to focus ahead. They need to hear about Ethiopia and the teachings of people like Marcus Garvey and about Emperor Haile Selassie. He feels that they need to know about the battle of Adwa (pronounced Adowa) and Mussilini. They should be hearing about great men from their heritage and culture like Ras Muchanan and Menelik. Babylon has tried to distract us from our origin and at no time should we limit ourselves to their teachings but instead we should try to read between the lines and seek our own know-ledge.
Currently, Capleton's latest project known as 'I-Testament' is one of the hottest selling albums on the market. The derivation of its name is from the fact that it protrudes some of the highest messages of the natural aspects of life. It features 16 tracks, a few of which are produced by some the top producers in Jamaica like Sly and Robbie. It varies from hardcore dancehall to hip-hop with a touch of R&B. The words of righteousness which echoes over the rhythms and throughout the interludes will allow your mind undergo a mental therapy and at the same time it will be open with new thoughts and ideas. Capleton does not totally have a single favorite on I-Testament. However, he likes to listen to 'East Coast To The West Coast' because it shows that people cannot be governed by guns, money and materialistic things but shows that love is the key that will open all doors from the east coast to the west coast.
On numerous occasions you can hear Capleton associating himself with the David House Crew. He explains that they are just some warriors who are burning some different kinds of fire. The crew consists of artists like Sizzla, Determine, Jah Mason, Jah Thunder, Militiary Man, Jah Fiery and a few others. They did a collaboration called 'Hail The King' which was a big tune in the dancehall and we can look out for more potent tunes coming out from this cocksure group. Possibly, you may see this on Rueben Productions, a label which the deejay Capleton is planning to unveil soon. He chose the name because the Rueben tribe is blessed with excellence of dignity, unstable like water and is the beginning of strength. This label will be based in St Mary, Capleton's home parish as he plans to break out a lot of youths, not only from surrounding area but also as far as Africa.
In closing, Capleton advises the youths and his fans to keep listening to the music because the music is an international language that speaks for itself in many different levels. In his opinion, music is also a natural source of life because if one does not have food and water, the music can still soothe the soul. In addition, the deejay would like to let everyone know that life is not just about sex, money and material things. We have greater elements that surround life which are much more valuable like patience and faithfulness, having a clean heart and a clear conscience and a firm meditation. He also recommends that we be ourselves and remember that God is not a spirit so we should leave the fantasy and illusion behind.
Naturally, Capleton is one of the better deejays you can find in the industry today. He has already proved his ability and versatility by topping the Billboard charts and by creating numerous dancehall classics for which our future generations will find pleasure. A message is always in his music and he constantly does his best at bringing forth tunes making us aware of who we are. His music and teachings are consistent with those of the straight and narrow road and we definitely should be on the alert for more hits and words of wisdom coming out of this pliant artist.