Wormbass follows his heart
AS a musician with keen ears, Delroy “Wormbass” Niven keeps in tune with hip sounds and trends. For his latest project, he tries his hand at Afrobeats.
Follow You is the name of his new song, expected to be released next week. He said inspiration for it “came from the Almighty Himself “.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, the lanky bassist said he follows the progress of Afrobeats, a hybrid of genres from West Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.
“This is indeed my first Afrobeat production. This production was a team effort with musicians that I often work with such as Kemar ‘Khemis’ Campbell of Vybnation Records; the guitar was played by Matthew Jacquette and (drummer) Sly Dunbar for overdubs,” he said.
Wormbass created the music for Follow You with Campbell and co-wrote its lyrics with Geddys Chase Ferguson.
His foray into Afrobeats comes at a time when the sound continues to be embraced by pop heavyweights like Drake and Beyonce.
Last June, BBC Radio 1Xtra added it’s weekly Official UK Afrobeats Top 20 chart, a nod to the music’s growing popularity in the United Kingdom.
Prior to the coronavirus lockdown, Wormbass spent considerable time touring mainly Europe with Inna de
Yard, a collective including Winston Mcanuff, Cedric Myton, Kiddus I and Ken Boothe.
From St Thomas, he made his name in the 1990s as bass player for Blaze, a top-notch band that exclusively backed Beenie Man. They also worked with other elite dancehall acts including Bounty Killer and Sanchez.
Follow You is his first vocal effort since Royalty which was released in late 2019. Reggaeman, his first album, came out in 2016.