Boom selects winning chune
With $100,000 on the line and a chance to establish themselves as an upcoming top producer, contestants submitted their best rhythms for the Boom Chune competition.
By the close of the contest on November 15, more than 80 submissions were made and more than 4,000 users were attracted.
Tarik ‘Russian’ Johnston of Head Concussion Records, Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor of Big Ship, and Mark ‘Markus’ Myrie of Markus Records were the judges and outside of the votes, provided expert comments and critiques of each rhythm that was submitted.
With the total number of entries, it was clear music is still a vital component of our culture. “Last year, we received 40 rhythms in the three weeks that the competition lasted. This year, we doubled that in two weeks, so I’d say the interest is there and so is the talent,” Kimberly Lawson, brand manager for Boom Energy Drink, said.
Again, using Facebook, contest- ants uploaded their best beats/rhythms with the hope of garnering the most votes and being chosen by the judges in order to win the grand prize.
Myrie said that he was impressed with the effort that the contestants took to produce what was seemingly their best. “Persons like me can appreciate a competition of this nature because of what it does for the talent that’s in Jamaica. We really just need people to help harness these talents,” Myrie said.
NEW TALENTS
Stephen McGregor agreed, saying that it was important that they as producers helped each other to bring new talent to the fore. He applauded Wisynco and Boom Energy Drink for staging the competition. Di Genius also said that artistes should use the competition to reinforce the culture of Jamaica and not to adopt a foreign sound. “I found that a number of the rhythms submitted were hip-hop based. I’m not sure why Jamaicans are making hip-hop rhythms. Maybe it’s what they hear mostly on radio, I don’t know, but it says something about the future of our music. If this is what they are presenting, then what will happen to reggae and dancehall when our generation of producers are no longer around. It’s a frightening thought,” Di Genius concluded.
Russian, too, found that too many of the rhythms were hip-hop sounding and gave insight as to why this might be so. “When a producer is building a rhythm, they will search for particular beats.
“The problem is a number of the beats that are available for download are hip-hop beats and not reggae or dancehall. It is then up to the producer to decipher this and search for a reggae and dancehall sound.
OVERSEAS LABELS
“If that producer is talented enough, they will find it,” Russian said. He continued by sharing that overseas labels were already in tuned to hip hop. “The labels abroad don’t want Jamaican producers to be producing hip-hop rhythms. They already have enough producers there doing that. They want authentic reggae and dancehall rhythms to add flavour to their music, and that’s what our producers coming up need to understand.”
After keen listening sessions and deliberations, the three-judge panel chose Karim Wilkie as the clear winner. “This bredda really seem to know what he was doing in terms of arrangement and making a dancehall rhythm,” quipped Di Genius.
Wilkie’s rhythm will be the official rhythm of the Boom Energy Drink Unsung Beats All-Island Road Show which begins this week.
I found that a number of the rhythms
submitted were hip-hop
based. I’m not sure why Jamaicans are making hip-hop rhythms.