WDGP RADIO

Man vs Machine

Sep 12, 2010 Beyond The Music, Today's Stars

Chromatics was a guest on Conversations on Sept 11, 2010, due to technical difficulties, we are not able to post that interview here, but this reprint sums up our discussion very nicely:

Published: 12 Sep 2010

in The Guardian

Two Fridays ago a small group of artistes braved the weather to stage a protest march on a popular up-town radio station. Their beef? The owner of that radio network pulled the artistes’ music off the air. One of the most visible of the angry artistes was Richard Rajkumar, alias Chromatics, arguably the closest thing to a rap superstar we have in this country. Here, the Sunday Guardian’s Dennis Tayé Allen asks Matics whassup widdat…

Q: Banned from radio? What happened man?

A: A number of radio stations and Synergy TV have refused to pay (Awesome) the royalties owed to us for hundreds of plays we received this year and subsequently have removed all of Highway Records’ music from their system, so not to incur anymore debt.

Q: What was the song that really took this thing into the

A: Well the songs that got a lot of airplay and attention were: Hitmaker (featuring Kane and Lil Saint), and Cold  Blooded; along with the subsequent video which featured John John. That was the number one video in the country for the entire month of June. All of which have disappeared from station’s line-ups save for 94.1 FM.

Q: The impasse between Awesome Ltd—the party responsible for collecting your royalties in T&T—and the radio stations…this goes way back. How long have you been caught in the middle of this?

A: Well Highway Records as a publishing company assigned Awesome the right to collect for us in March of this year (2010).  The radio stations were approached in July to pay the royalties and this is when we found ourselves in this situation.

Q: When one considers what you and the rest of the Awesome artistes had to do to draw attention to the impasse, how difficult was it to make that choice to get political and make that protest in front of Citadel?

A: It was very, very easy for me and other members. Citadel is breaking the law and denying me as an artist my rights as stipulated in the copyright amendment act, after having used my music. Most artists are afraid to stand up for their rights. The artists and the listening/viewing public have been brainwashed by these same media chains into thinking they are powerless and have no choice. I have educated myself thoroughly over the years about the music business so that no one can take advantage of me or my work. The heads of radio and media have tried to discredit our movement and fool the public into thinking that we are wrong to stand up for what is rightfully owed to us. They have been constantly trying to cover up this injustice, this crime, with mud-slinging and propaganda, so we had no choice but to take it to that next level to alert the public and other artists of the seriousness of this matter. They brought it upon themselves.

Q: The Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) had been approached by Awesome to get recognition as your legit collection agent. That was met with a very lukewarm response. Has that changed since the protest?

A: No! According to the TTPBA, they have no right to implement policies or dictate how an individual station operates….so they are cool with one of their members breaking the law, is no scene. But when I went to a certain radio station to do an interview that might have reflected badly on them, they have the power to get me kicked off the show. Hypocrisy!

Let’s turn away from that whole situation for a moment…
Q: You were at the studio when you were contacted for this interview. How often are you recording?

A: Everyday! Sunday to Sunday, holiday or not. It might not be my music specifically but between me and the other artists on the label John John, Kane, Lil Saint, Andrew Prescod and of course paying clients who come to Highway Records to do productions we are in there round the clock.

Q: It is well known that you broke away from the Spotrushaz a while back. Since then you seem to have had more measurable success as a solo artiste. Is the age of the “rap crew” over?

A: Never! There are new and incredibly talented crews namely 6326 The Movement, Cloud 9, Arima Uncensored, Sovereignty…the list goes on.

Q: How many album releases do you have to your name?

A: My first album, Against The Grain—which sold over 2,500 copies in T&T alone—was released in 2007. I will be releasing my second album entitled The Business of Art, next month (October 2010). It is a collaborative effort between me and producer Beebo.

Q: What’s your opinion of the state of hip hop lifestyle in T&T?

A: Great! It is ripe for the picking! Hip-Hop artists have revolutionised the way we approach the business end of music. Rappers understand the many means of promotion, personal sales, online marketing, merchandising, throwing their own shows, etc. and have the quality products and material to back it up.

Q: You and your record label, Highway records, have made a serious commitment to the art. Where is the industry headed?

A: An explosion of all things local with Hip-Hop being one of the biggest contributors. We have never depended on the mainstream forms of media to reach the public. It’s just sad that these same radio stations who are denying us our royalties this year were really embracing the music until they found out they had to pay for it and thus putting a spoke in the wheel of progress for music to be a viable source of income. This is really the biggest hurdle for the industry right now. They would like people to believe that there is no money in local music outside of Soca, but that is really to control who makes the money—REAL TALK!

Q: A lot of T&T artistes and celebs have observed that they get treated “better” when they are outside of the country. What has been your experience with foreign promoters, especially further up the islands? Is there a demand for Caribbean hip hop in the way there is a demand for soca and dancehall?

A: There is a demand for hip hop all over the world, regardless of where it comes from. I just came back from a month in England doing shows and radio interviews and the love and support was overwhelming—they loving the Trini hip-hop over there—and I am returning next year on a two-month long tour. Performing in Barbados for the Virgin Atlantic Music festival in 2008 was the greatest welcome and artist treatment I have ever received. I mean, even if you go Tobago they treat you with more respect than here in Trinidad.

Q: Over the last few years we have seen a tremendous upsurge in local reggae and dancehall, with artistes like Prophet Benjamin breaking through into European markets. What’s that team doing that the hip hop team isn’t?

A: Nothing. Prophet’s music was big here before he could’ve truly broken into those markets, just like Marlon Asher. Once local media embraces the music it’s easier to break into other markets with that weight behind you. They transferred local success into international success which is a familiar story in the music industry worldwide: Jay-Z, Nelly, Cash Money, Midnite, etc.

The government has said in the recent budget that they are revising the way they treat arts and culture. What directions and policy changes do you think are needed for local hip hop artistes?

A: Nothing, we will help ourselves as we have always done. We are the poster children of Independence. The policies that need to be implemented should not be for any one genre or group, but for all artists and creative people (for instance the proposed 50 per cent local quota on radio would encompass every genre). We are just a part of the creative community.

Q: Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, in his 2011 budget speech on Wednesday, mentioned a Book of Heroes—will we be seeing a chapter on Captain Chrome?

A: I expect not, for the simple fact I am a hip hop artist. We are the generation of artists that has been forgotten, scorned, mis-judged, vilified, discriminated against, rejected and described as “wannabes”. My chapter will be written in the lives of the artists that come after me, who will continue what I started and stand for, which is progress. That is worth more to me than any honourable mention in any book of Heroes. Peace!

Live performance:
You can see Chromatics perform live at Coco Lounge, on Ariapita Avenue, on September 21.

WDGPradio.com respects and appreciates all of the Independent Artists that contribute such wonderful musical expressions as Highway Records does and we are requesting that every music lover, artist, producer and the like contact  Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association by mail and/or email to let them know how unjust this decision really is.

Read More about this issue.

Tags: arranger, composer, hip-hop, independent record label, law, music, musician, politics, preformer, producer, rapper, royalties, Trinidad & Tobaco, unfair

God’s People

Sep 3, 2010 Beyond The Music, Spiritual Life

Meet Evangelist Angel Powell. She is definitely one of God’s People.

Evangelist Powell is an anointed and powerful Speaker and Preacher of the Word.

Evangelist Powell’s mission is to use TV, Radio, Internet and any form of Evangelism to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ unto the world and bring souls into God’s Kingdom.

View her shows on COMCAST Cable in Atlanta GA., on the worldwide web at PEOPLETV.org, on You-Tube

Tags: encouragement, Gospel, motivate, motivation, prayer, preacher, Uplifting, word of God