Warrior King takes charge of business

The Rootz Warrior, is not only the name of Warrior King's latest album, but also his company. This gives the title added meaning, Warrior King telling The Gleaner that it is the first time he has been executive producer on one of his albums - he shares that financial role with James Lord.

"I am hands-on with the project every step of the way. It took us three to four years to put together," he said. He took charge of producing two songs, Aint Giving Up and Rastafari Protect I. The former is gaining traction and led to a Martinique performance recently. In addition, Warrior King says he has been getting numerous requests for dub plates of the song by sound system operators and at shows, promoters are asking that he include it in his set.

After this first shot at taking charge of his business, Warrior King said, "it won't be my last."

Getting clearance for songs was one reason why the album was so long in the making, Warrior King pointing out that Ain't Giving Up is on the rhythm for Israel Vibrations' Rude Boy Shuffling. Watching You uses the beat for Dennis Brown's song, Caress Me Girl.

Apart from Moonlight Bright, it is all live music.

He will be going to the USA in early April, to push The Rootz Warrior, doing shows in Tennessee, New York, Rhode Island and Colorado, among others. Then in June, he is off to Europe to do a number of festivals on the strength of The Rootz Warrior, with Reggae On the River in the US, also in that period.

Apart from the album, Warrior King is happy with, I Know, a collaboration with Ill-logical Linguistics from Bermuda.

"I am very happy it is out," he said about The Rootz Warrior. It is a great motivation."

-M.C