Wednesday 15 January 2014

Remix Artist Spotlight: King Yoof

Easy all...

As regular blog readers will know, the Dirty Dubsters remix ep "When The Road Calls", ft Jamaica's Turbulence went on sale this week. We caught up briefly with King Yoof, who has laid down a killer remix of this big roots tune for the EP, and had the chance to ask him a couple of questions about reggae, here's what the man had to say...

IM: Bass music...so, was it raves, or was it soul/funk/reggae that drove you? Was it from family tradition...or from teenage angst..?

Yoof: I grew up in Lewisham (S.E London) and my Uncle was a massive reggae/dub fan and collected vinyl, he took me to concerts like Reggae Sunsplash and i got to see artists such as Dennis Brown,King Yellowman,Sugar Minot etc.

Also Saxon Sounds was my local sound and was a heavy influence in my life and was the foundation of the british Reggae scene of the 80's, then Rave music came about which I heard alot of the reggae I was into being sampled and used in this new sound... since then I haven't looked back

IM: You've always been a real warrior in the breaks & bass scene, with the world at your feet so to speak, what was it that attracted you to this tune...?

Yoof: To me I'm always searching for that perfect beat or groove and when I heard the Turbulence track instantly I knew what I wanted to do... I like to go that extra mile on a remix either get the vocalist to re sing the parts at a different bpm or key, maybe bringing in a guest vocalist but for this remix I recreated the classic riddim by getting a friend to re play the bassline with a live Sax!

IM: Do you think reggae (outta JA) has changed?

Yoof: In Europe Reggae is massive and I find the fans will learn about the history of it, they will go in depth into learning about the foundation artists etc etc , The instrumental side "Dub" is played a lot more and the more authentic style of Reggae is very much at the forefront but in JA its different as they have adopted more the "Dancehall" style which is dominant in the clubs, its music for the Youth's a bit like what Grime is for U.K kids and traditional Reggae has taken a step back but I feel music goes in circles and New Reggae artists such as Chronix & Turbelence are becoming more popular and also the mixture of traditional reggae riddims that have that up to date almost dubstep production is becoming popular.


IM: Do you think reggae (as we understand it as a genre) is relevant in Jamaica today, and what's it's significance to the world at large?

Yoof: Reggae music will always be relevant in all its different forms, The styles are always changing but the foundations are always there... my only concern is that new Artists that breaking into the scene are becoming a bit of a "one hit wonder" just to make some money, we need more Artists with staying power, we need the new Dennis Browns, the New Gregory Isaacs etc and lay off the Autotune please. Reggae is the most important music worldwide as it has influenced everything from Rap music to Edm dance culture. You could be a 16 year old white kid from the middle of nowhere skanking out to the latest Dubstep beats and not even know who Bob Marley is but one thing i do know is that he was influenced by Reggae Sound system culture...

Big ups to King Yoof. You can stalk him on Facebook HERE and check out his remix of "When The Road Calls" on the Soundcloud player. The full remix EP is available now on Juno Download.


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