The Bay Area Reggae Project,
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As broad as the reggae genre is there are vital threads that weave their ways through tracks, albums and artists' careers that tie it all together. One such thread, by the name of Laurent "Tippy" Alfred, is shining a little brighter than others right now, making his presence known as a top-tier producer through his individual endeavors and projects released on his I Grade label. If you're reading this, you probably know about I Grade so I won't bore you with the details. (Real quick: Midnite, Dezarie, Niyorah, Toussaint, Yahadanai, Abja, Tuff Lion.) A good chunk of the I Grade projects are heavy on roots arrangements, chanting vocals, and musical allusions to the most high. You know, lofty, heady, good goodness kinds of stuff. But Tippy's got that fearless flexibility (big up myself for not using the V word) that we are all going to be benefitting from as he continues to put his touch on tracks that make their way to our ears. Case and point: Did you love "Hell Yeah" by Dead Prez and Jay-Z? Go on, thank your boy Tippy. Did "Ridin" by David Banner, Dead Prez and Talib make you wind up your hip? If you put your thank you note in the mail now it'll reach Tippy's studio before he gets home from tour. Additionally, if you love Jahdan Blakkamoore, Norrisman, Lutan Fyah, Messenjah Selah (my answers: yes, yes, yes, and yes) you're most likely going to be hearing Tippy's good works in the near future if you haven't already. The best part is, he's a youngin' still, so, at the risk of sounding presumptuous, we're looking forward to a lifetime of this...Isn't life grand?
When he came through San Francisco, playing keys with Jah Current Band in support of I Grade artists Tuff Lion, Toussaint and Niyorah, he graciously allowed me to record a few of his thoughts as he packed up. He also gave me a copy of the Yahadanai album "One Atonement" which I'm publicly admitting I'd never heard before. I had one of those moments when you realize you're the last one to know about something dope, but I'm all about honesty. Besides, if I've never heard this piece of gold (I've been listening to it all weekend), think of all the amazing things I've yet to discover. Again, give thanks for the shiny gifts of life.
JD: Tell me about I Grade and what you look for in artists.
Tippy: Well the first thing we look for in an artist is word sound. The lyrics. I think that’s the foundation of artistry. You know what I mean? It’s not all about the flow, and the style, and the pattern, and the voice. It’s about what the message is, first and foremost. But the music, the point of what we try to do is for healing through sound. That’s the slogan we use, ‘spreading musical ises and healing from St. Croix to across the world.’ So, once the music is touching me first and I know it’s touching people on a level as far as lyrical content, then I check for it. But quality is quality. We call it I Grade, so we have to have obviously great vocals and great sound, and you know this is what we look for. Artists like Niyorah and Toussaint, they live up to that to the fullest.
JD: And Toussaint is from the states so obviously you’re not just working with V.I. artists.
Tippy: Definitely, we’re not trying to stay just in that area. Music is so international, my influences are so broad and diverse. And it’s actually not the first album we’ve done with a non-V.I. artist, I don’t know if you’ve heard the album by Yahdanai, an album called One Atonement. [Hands over the gift.] He’s from Guyana. So you know, we’re definitely international, very diverse, open-minded. As a producer, I’m very open. I don’t stick to a formula, I don’t believe in cliché, doing what everybody else does. Just stay free with the music, you know?
JD: Trying not to stick too much with the traditional way?
Tippy: That’s right.
JD: And you’ve also done some work with hip-hop too, what do you think of the fusion of hip-hop and reggae, and projects like Distant Relatives?
Tippy: Yeah man, that’s my favorite album right now and I love the fusion. I did a lot of hip-hop work when I was living in New York, with Dead Prez, M1, he and I were in a production collective together, I was able to really just dug into that world, that musical world heavy. Did some tracks, we did a track, “Hell Yeah,” with Dead Prez and Jay-Z, co-produced that. And a track with David Banner and Talib Kweli [“Ridin”], so definitely I’ve got much love for hip-hop and you can hear that in the production. Straight through all the way back to those albums with Midnite, definitely heavy hip-hop influence in the production.
JD: What about your influences?
Tippy: There’s definitely many. Jah Shaka, a lot in the UK actually. Karl Pitterson, great producer. Steel Pulse, and Exodus and those albums. Yabby You, Glenn Brown, Augustus Pablo, Sly and Robbie, all those greats like that. And then of course people like Stevie Wonder, Donnie Hathaway, and a lot of these soul sounds as well. Over to the Caribbean, zouk and different island sounds, sounds from where my peoples come from, Haiti, and from all over. African music, I love African music, Salif Keita. I can’t count these all as influences, per se, like I’m emulating those sounds, but the influence that they can have on my vibration as a musician, you know what I mean, being able to touch certain chords or keys, and using instruments and how we stay open to that.
JD: Anybody you have in mind that you’d like to work with?
Tippy: Jahdan. I’d do a full album with Jahdan.
JD: But Jahdan said he wants to work with Barbara Streisand.
Tippy: [Laughing] Barbara Streisand…But no I’m blessed to be working with the artists who I really want to work with you know. Because I can’t really imagine working with artists other than artists like Niyorah and Toussaint and Midnite and some of the artists I’ve had a chance to work with. So I’m blessed in that respect, I can’t say that I’m really itching to work with so and so, because there’s some great real talent among I and I. 08/15/10
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