Richie Stephens puts ’90s magic on new rhythm
Richie Stephens, the famous lover’s rock crooner and dancehall producer, will release the Skyscraper Rhythm on his Pot of Gold Label later this year.
The singer explained that the rhythm was inspired by the success and honours he has received since Rihanna used his 1998 Sail Away Rhythm for her monster hit, Work, featuring Drake.
In May, when Richie Stephens collected the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Pop Award in California, he got a chance to meet all the great producers like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and the young producers who had worked on the Rihanna track. They expressed their love for the original Sail Away Rhythm, and that inspired Richie Stephens to get back in the studio and work on his own productions.
When he went back to Jamaica, he decided that he was going to revisit and explore more of that ’90s style sound and the magic of the early dancehall years, but include a taste of now.
The Skyscraper Rhythm came out of that vibe.
ANOTHER JUGGLING
“That same kind of movement from She’s A Maniac is what I went back for, and included what I see and what I am hearing is happening now. I play the rhythm and have the rhythm playing in the studio, and everybody would just go crazy over the rhythm. I decided that even though I haven’t done a juggling in years, I would do another juggling and see what vibe and energy we would get out off it,” Stephens said.
The first song recorded on the rhythm was with Mr G, an artiste and well-respected producer for Young Blood Records, who encouraged Richie to put out the rhythm now. So, the two veteran artistes created the first track, Him or Me.
Afterwards, Stephens drew for acts like Dexta Daps, Christopher Martin, Romain Virgo, Professor Nuts, and Agent Sasco, who all did songs on the rhythm.
“I always like to introduce new talent when I am in the studio, so we featured a popular dancer named Hunter, who has a great voice, and put a killer song called Duppy Bat to round out the selections. I am excited to present this new rhythm to the world and look forward to hear the reaction from the public,” Richie Stephens said.