September already... Well that means playtime is over and the new release on Necessary Mayhem is coming... The "Come Down Riddim" is definatly one of the most highly anticipated releases that we have had on the label to date maybe its the track with Tippa Irie or the return of Papa Levi or the combination with Million Stylez & Joey Fever out of Sweden, perhaps its the BBC Artiste of last year Mr Williamz or Maybe its the legendary Pinchers... I personally think its all of them but i guess i'm biased.

Come Down by Super Cat  was released in November 1998 and has remained a dancehall classic to this date for djs and mcs alike and thats why I choose this riddim to cover. At Tippa Irie's "Talk The Truth" launch in late 2007 I witnessed him and the rest of the Saxon family rip into the dub of that tune and it just has an energy about it which djs gravitate to.

After much thought and research phone calls and conversations I decided to come to Jamaica to do some recording for the label and also tighten links and make new ones. In the past I have come here and wasted time, spent money on rubbish and been generally disappointed but I really think that when I am asked what tune really put Necessary Mayhem on the map I would have to say it was “ Champion Sound” because this tune brought me to Gussie Clarke one of the most respected Producers, label and studio owners in the business and also to vp and greensleeves records who between them control a huge chunk of the reggae industry worldwide.

This is my last night here and I have to say im sad… Very sad to leave as this has been my best work trip to Jamaica for many a year.  Not only did I get to hang out and record with some top artist but I also produced in the legendary Anchor studio, mixed tunes at steven Stanley studio, played overdubs for a track on the new Tarrus Riley Album which is unbelievable and voiced several tunes for Necessary Mayhem which you will be hearing soon.

All of the above is cool but what I really liked was the fact that I learnt plenty about production, both my own and from the greats and theirs. Conversations with Gussie Clarke, Steven Stanley, Dean Frasier and many more all pointed to the same thing and outcome… Get an artist and devolop them and make lps with them. Singles are all good but try and do some lps as the fans like to hear as much of that artist as possible.

Production in this country is on a different scale to what I have witnessed in both UK, and America which are both to great standards in most genres but the set ups and studio space and treatments for the rooms in Jamaica along with the equipment whether its lots or little sounds wonderful, for example I produced a tune in the uk and played the same tune in studio 2 at anchor studio and heard things that I didn’t play such as the low end of the bass or the frequency of the piano etc such was the quality of the sound in there. The engineers here really know their stuff however Fatta resident engineer at Anchor studios  was very interested in how I do certain things with my beats or mixes he like me always eager to learn new stuff, but the thing that seemed to reach everyone was my bass sound and how I get it… I cant give that away man… Lets just say it takes ages to get it the way I want it but I love the love it gets...

I didn’t see one tape machine in operation over here which was strange to me as I remember not that long ago trudging through Norman Manley airport with my 2 inch reel tapes, pro tools is king over here. I use logic Audio and I hear Don Corleon is one of very few that use it here so that was another learning curve for both me and the engineers here for setting up and compatabilty purposes.

Necessary Mayhem fans know we love the 80’s and 90’s vibes and the next set of releases  have some of the greats from those eras more information about the tracks and artist will follow closer to the time of release… Stay tuned.

THE KING MIXING WITH BUNNY LEE... MURDER...

Well when we first started this site I had no intention at all of starting a blog until last week when I picked up the new Joker Smoker Ridim from the pressing plant. To my horror the record labels were the wrong way around on both 7” records, so let me explain… The label that had “Ziggi Joker Smoker” on it was actually “Mr Williamz No Cigarette”... So what did you do you ask? No point in being vex and cussing whats done is done so I called one of my distributors whose reply to my question was "No mate, it ain't gonna work with the wrong labels on. I’m afraid your gonna have to find away to fix it"…

I went to staples bought 2 boxes of A4 labels, a paper trimmer, ink for the printer and 4 red bull and after 4 days they were all done and stuck on the right records with the titles and artist name with the help of my paps and brother I might add. Funny thing about it was that I was mad p@$**d off at the start but caught so much joke with my family while sticking the damn labels over the titles.

I’m very excited about the Joker smoker riddim all of the cuts have a different vybe for me. I did this riddim with Collie Buddz in mind but didn’t approach him (and I have only just realized that I didn’t) instead as I always do I sent it to YT first then I sent it to Ziggi.

I hadn't worked with Ziggi (Ganja Smoke In The Air) until now but I always keep my ears to the ground and was a fan of his work, to be honest when I first started the label his name came up and I tried to get in contact but I guess nothing happen before the time. I remember mixing the Ziggi track and wasn't happy with the start, to me it needed a musical drop near the start to really grab your attention and felt the music all the way through at the start would drown him out. I tried several drops in different places but you see when we catch it... Blouse and skirt the tune sound maddddddddd and the dub at the end was fun to do. His vocal is powerful but laid back to me all at the same time, I got some backing vocals done to sing along with him on the chorus and that really helped to lift those sections.

Next was Mr. Williamz (No Cigarette) who voiced his and sent me the vocals. When I first got the demo I felt he had done it again, the perfect follow up to "Babylon In Helicopter". His intro alone  "We could never be a Joker Smoker / Cause you compare the size of my spliff to your size a spliff / Your size a spliff is much more mediocre" was so heavy that you know when your in a dance and you smash the wall with your hand for a pull up? Well that was me iyah. Mr. Williamz to me has a great talent and is growing around the globe, this tune is hot but im telling you there are some real smashers coming.

YT and the Credit Crunch... I speak to YT nearly every day. To find someone that love the music as much as you is a good thing and if its not music its Football that we talk about, however this particular phone call that I got from YT was about him NOT doing a weed tune on the Joker Smoker riddim. "Wait til you hear what I got planned for this tune Lynch, I’m gonna f@£% up the place with this one and it aint a weed tune either". I can always trust YT and all of my artist for that matter to have free reign most of the time because they are professionals and when an artist comes at you as a producer with that kind of confidence it just makes my  job easier. When I heard Credit Crunch I had to laugh, why could I not be an MC and sum up the world situation in less than 4 minutes? That’s a skill. Credit Crunch needed a different mix compared to the rest, for a start it wasn't a weed tune and the thing with YT is he is full of lyrics so the music needs to have space other wise you could lose some of the wisdom that he is throwing at you. I had fun with the outro with the Nicodemus sample hobla, hobla...

The Joker smoker dub was tricky. I wanted to keep the Joker Smoker sample in it but then thought about the MC's around the world djing on the tune with this Joker Smoker vocal dropping in and out all the time and thought better of it. To be honest I didn't even know Joker Smoker til a few years ago. YT / Mr. Williamz / & Ziggi think I must have been in mars not to know it til so recent but they know it and it shows.

Yesterday the tunes were shipped to various parts of the world and today the UK shops received them and I have to re order already but yuh done kno dis time de pressin' plant better sort out de right label fi de right tune...

 Click here to hear / purchase the Joker Smoker Riddim