Q & A with Bascom X

Peppa Pot: What is the message in your music?

Bascom X: The message I m spreading through the music? I m a passionate youth - I love the girls dem. I love to sing for the girls. I love when the girls are irie and mild. I m not really in the fire bun this and fire bun that but I do tell people what not to do and what to do and to remember to praise the King, Haile Selassie the Omnipotent One. I try to tell the men to love their women and not to disrespect them and in tern tell the women to wise up, know themselves and love their children. I try to tell the women the glamour and glitter is not all, what about your family? That can bring you more love than the vanity. A black woman with her child what more love can she have than to hug and cuddle her child when the night is cold. Tell your son or daughter a story at night your daughter may smile and respond back to you, "Mummy I love you". I remember when my son just started to talk and walk, when me and him just a tug out, when he was little and tiny and I used to keep him. I remember when he was in his mother s belly and she used to turn and show me him moving - that made me freeze and realize "Jah know star - life ah miracle. You hafi just tek care ah life". Those vibes i m trying to bring across. I m not limited, four corners to the music you have to circle it.

It s like in school if the teachers to strict you don t want to go to that class. So just like the music if you re too strict with the music you ll have people who listen to you but others will not because some people just want to go out and have a good time. So I do all kind of music, surround the music with joy, social commentary, and other times I get biblical and tell you about the King. Some people don t know about the King they just live.

Peppa Pot: Do you remember the first song you recorded?

Bascom X: Tell you the truth I don t really remember the song. But I remember the first time going to the studio to do an official song That was at the Mixing Lab, on Dunbarton Avenue St. Andrew. Mi remember Spanner Banner, that singer, he made me do my first recording. He sent me to a brother named Mikey and said, "Ye man - voice him man" - without even knowing if I had talent. Probably because I knew him. He also was from Portmore. He was living on my block, he had family there. That s where he did his first video, Life Goes On. So I guess that s one of the reasons why. Definitely he didn t know the talent that I had If I could do it or not, but all respect goes out to him same way. I still don t remember the song, all I remember was it was like some hot girl but mi caan really go inna it.

Peppa Pot: How did you link with Vybz Kartel?

Bascom X: Well Vybz Kartel is one of the most versatile deejays I know. Portmore Sunshine city again. Portmore breed a whole leap of champion artists like Mad Cobra (Flex #1 on Billboard), Frisco Kid, Baby Wayne [Yo that deejay de bad], Mega Banton [Bascom sings], Ricky General, Terror Fabulous [bascom sings], Shaka Demus and Pliers, Dougsie Ranks, Gyptian, Hylanders - the list goes on and on. Vybz Kartel from Waterford, that youth came and changed the music. He made people realize that we can deejay with a hip hop flow. Kartel is a man that loves competition so me and him never used to go good; but we used to record for King Jammys so we would see each other at the studio.

Then one day mi inna studio and a voice a tune [Bascom Deejays]. When me step out of the box Kartel say "You see you - mi caan hide mi conscience. You baad." I then told him he s one of the baddest things cross the bridge [Causeway bridge to Portmore]. Then he said come lets do a tune now. At that time Baby G had a riddim called Mexican and we did a collaboration on that riddim. [Bascom deejays].

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Peppa Pot: Who influenced you?

Bascom X: Jr. Reid, Half Pint, Super Cat, Ninja Man was my favorite dancehall deejay. Ninja was the man. Ninja is a brother that doesn t have to have any lyrics. The man would just walk out on the stage, and just pose and say nothing and whole place done fi all 10 15 minutes. Then you know you have Shabba Ranks. If you say Ninja you have to say Shabba just like if you say Bounty you have to say Beenie, and if you say I-Wayne you have to say Bascom. So Ninja man was my deejay but you had others like Tiger, and Admiral Bailey. When you really check it, it was a whole leap of talent. You have Dignitary Stylee. He had the modern thing back then. [Bascom sings]. Lieutenant Stitchie and Papa San was the speeders. They could deejay fast; but they had their stories, you had to listen keenly. Stitchie had his story line Papa San had his story line. Just like Professor Nuts. You couldn t just listen to the first part you had to listen to the middle or towards the end then you really got what they were saying. Then you had Brigadier Jerry, Charlie Chaplin, Josey Wales they were the base of the music. But you had nuff other people like Wayne Wonder and Sanchez. Them time I didn t know that Sanchez wasn t singing authentic songs - even today when I hear the original it doesn t compare to how Sanchez sings it. Sanchez exposed us to whole new genre of music. Frankie Paul has the magic voice.

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Peppa Pot: How did you come up with the song Lonely Girl?

Bascom X: The chorus - "Who do you thing of when you re lonely" - that s something I had long time. Like couple years ago. But the verse to it that was written in the studio. But you see the whole of that was like a vibe where mi a listen to the riddim and the riddim actually a tell mi whe fi say. Most of my songs have a story line and a pattern to them. If you listen to it - it s a start and a finish. You can listen to it and hold a vibe and you can anticipate what s coming next. The melody, the riddim, the rhymes came together - it was magical, classical. Up to this day that song has been stamped in the music book for life you can t erase it.

Peppa Pot: Are you surprised that the song did so well?

Bascom X: Surprised? The minute I recorded the song I knew the song was like whoa. The day I recorded the song I went home and told my uncle, "Yo mi a mek a break through. Different
from all the other things wheh mi used to do ... that one different mi feel the energy". It s like you ever go near a power plant and you hear the current a buzz and you see the X and you know if cross beyond the X it s danger? Yeah mon mi coulda hear the hit a buzz from far. The producer, Stephen Gibbo, knew that day that it was a hit track.

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