Jamaica a large factory for singles

Bob Marley’s 11th studio album, Survival, centred around the themes of Pan-Africanism and the upliftment of African people. However, the album’s theme could not be determined from just one song, says Julian Marley, “It was a movement; I don’t think a person can sum up a concept or deliver a message through a single,” he said.

Coming from a different school of thought, the son of the reggae legend and musician explained that some recording artistes spend time listening to a track before it is released.

“I mean, I find singles every day; we live in a singles generation. It is easier to be done, and any musician with an understanding of recording music can do it from the back room of his or her house,” Marley told The Gleaner.

The Boom Draw reggae artiste said that although there is pressure on artistes and producers alike to remain relevant, he was not going to be forced to follow the trend. Marley remains an artiste who focuses on putting out quality music instead of flooding the airwaves just to be heard. He is also not concerned about producing music that charts.

He said, “Even though doing singles is happening now, I don’t do music for success or the chart dis or dat, I make music from the heart, and, as a lover of all musicians, for me, it is only if it comes to my heart that I will sing.”

Local producer Sean ‘Seanizzle’ Reid says that for the past eight years, Jamaica has been a large factory for singles, in comparison to the early 2000s to 2010.

“From the days of Mavado and Vybz Kartel, it has become more popular to hear dancehall entertainers working to release singles rather than albums, but it works differently depending on the type of artiste,” Seanizzle said.

Single-driven market

Dancehall up-and-comers are his first example of the types of artistes who cannot expect to release an album.

“There are those who survive off singles, and their careers pick up momentum when they are putting out more tracks, rather than a compilation,” he said.

Another dancehall hitmaker, Troyton Rami of Black Shadow Records, known for his work on the albums of some of Jamaica’s chart-topping entertainers, says that the music industry, especially dancehall, is a single-driven market.

“Albums don’t sell because a recording artiste is an icon, the sales are based on the artiste having a relevant brand,” Troyton explained.

“Like the artiste or not, it’s like stock. When an album is released, people will buy it if they believe in the product and will take the time to listen to it not on the basis that one single was good,” he continued.

He stated that in spite of a constant need for producers to ‘create riddims’ to facilitate new work from reggae and dancehall entertainers there is no significant amount of pressure.

“Artistes need to drop albums, and producers need to drop riddims based on their brand,” he said. “I find myself doing it once or twice a year ... . If anything, it is more work, more studio time, to put out a decent project that includes a riddim with up to 10 good tracks,” he said.