Ask Jeremy

Last weekend
Dancehall Artist Sean Paul's Manager,

Jeremy Harding opened a

"formspringme" account, and set off a frenzy of inquiring minds.

Myself and people familiar with these 3 words, "Ask me anything", flocked to the site to ask away. Here's a highlight of peoples' questions & answers that he answered which I found insightful & informative. For those unfamiliar with Mister Harding click on this link & get yourself familiarized. http://tinyurl.com/y978lsg

or skip ahead and enjoy.

Q: The success, quality & substance of stage shows have depleted. Why do u think that is? Is it because it's the same shit different day? The promoters? Is it a reflection of the industry? What do you think? What do you think they should be doing different?

A: In days past, artists used to have to learn the "live show" trade while they were trying to make records....The first time you heard them was usually live somewhere,,,,,and then they would get an opportunity to record dubplates...and then real records.......In recent times, artists emerge from their bedroom to the studio to the radio to the tv........So when they get on a stage, there's a whole aspect to their craft that they've neglected...Just cause they didn't need to do it to get there in the first place.....

Q: What would you like to see done different with the FEMALE artists?

A: Start producing them and stop just VOICING them...also they don't have to be as disgusting as the men to get attention...Everybody thinks the shock value is entertaining, but they certainly don't respect or rate them as artists....Don't you see how their careers last one year and then they disappear???

Q: After Sean Paul, many predicted that the gates were open for more artists to breakthrough internationally... In your opinion being in the industry and seeing both the inside and out why weren't more artist able to achieve his kind of success?

A: Because no one wanted to do what Sean did, which was to try and be more accessible to North American ears with their music...Everyone went more hardcore, more lyrical, less danceable...more music for the "thugs" and less for the ladies...Even 50 cent and them always come out with nice, clubby songs for girls to dance to FIRST and save the thug stuff for the album or the mixtape...lol!

I guess these artists lacked proper guidance and management too? I can only guess...

Q: Is the Gully/Gaza Alliance/Empire good for dancehall or has it been clouding all the other Artist and Music coming out of JA...

A: Dancehall thrives on rivalries...It's been there from day one, its part of the culture. But recently artists have been making more headlines not for the MUSIC they make, but for the arrests they have, the charges in court against them, the altercations they get into with people on the corner, in the streets, in the club....online.....

I think THAT'S distracting from the music.....the paparazzi sensationalism of it all....

Q: Recently Mr. Vegas had some words about the current status of dancehall saying most of the now ah days riddims are more hip hop style and that producers need to bring back the old skool style riddims from Dave Kelly and Cleevie... you agree with this?

A: Well I'll agree that the hip hop style stuff is not the way to go, proven by the lackluster response we've seen outside of Jamaica for it.....But I don't wanna go back to the old skool necessarily either, I think we should always be forging ahead to create new sounds and textures and riddims and styles...keeping them unique to Dancehall/Reggae is the trick...All music styles borrow from one another at some point, but borrowing and creating is different from borrowing and imitating....Perhaps bring back a vibe were people can say "Yeah, it have little hip hop flavor or something....but it sound like OUR ting, something unique to us!"

Q: Would u be willing to start a record label soon?

A: I already have my dancehall label...2 Hard Records...I know it's been a while, but.....

Q: What's the process of releasing a riddim? How are the money splits and rights?

A: Riddims usually are licensed by US, UK or Japanese distributors. They pay you a fee per song or per album, and that gives them rights to sell/re-license in a certain territory for a certain time. They normally prefer to pay only the MASTER RIGHTS owner, which in dancehall is usually the producer of the record. The producer/label then has to decide what to pay the artists from that advance and/or from the royalties derived...This is how REGGAE licensing deals work, not the rest of the world....

Q: Was Beenie Mans - Who am I, as well Sean's - Gimme Di Light build for an international audience or they were just picked up cuz of the catchy beats and hook. Then the PR machine went to work to pushed it further?

A: PR machine?? Those records found legs on their own....Neither artists was signed to a big company nor had any budget behind those records. The songs themselves found favour with radio jocks immediately....they were on strong riddim juggling tracks and Beenie was already a star core artist...Sean was new and different at the time and was building a name for himself

Q: Which other producers/riddim builders do you rate, both new and old ones: Stephen, Russian, daseca, Shane brown etc.. Germaine, the Kelly's, Steelie & Clevie, Digital, Browne bunch, Jammins

A: Wow, you just answered the question for me...read your post! If you say Dancehall, you have to say Sly Dunbar, add Don Corleon to that...Arif Cooper is also very creative, Nigel Staff is a secret weapon for many producers throughout the years...DeMarco is SUPER talented....My all time favorite Dancehall producer is Tony Kelly, straight up. He could do local hits and international hits side by side with ease and without altering his sound. Big up, Tony...

Q: Ok Mr. Harding, I want to know if JACAP seriously tracks all airplay and if artistes and producers are compensated for their work, cause I know radio stations out here are actively supporting payola.

A: Airplay tracking systems are very poor in Jamaican radio. Only a select few stations have to report by playlist, and even then it's very selective and not necessarily a good 'sampling' of what the entire station is playing.......And by the way, everyone needs to get over this payola issue. Radio everywhere in the world works off of some form payola..It always has, always will be. You think Jay Z records get rotation just because he's your favorite rapper? You think Lady Gaga gets five #1 singles because she wears funny hats on stage? Don't be naive, people; this is the murky business of Music that we witness. Radio stations are controlled by bigger companies who have relationships with labels and advertisers and selectively decide WHAT music they WANT to be heard on their stations. All sorts of deals are struck.....

Q: Does the advancement of technology in the Jamaican music industry cause the music to affect the lifestyles of listeners any differently? [dress, language, etc]

A: I believe art imitates life, not the other way around. The lifestyle and youth culture drive the direction of content, dress, language, etc. I don't recall a song telling people to wear skinny jeans....neither do I recall a song telling people that the dance "sell off" or that the place "shell dung"....

Q: Russian or Di Genius?

A: I manage Stephen McGregor, so I'm gonna say Di Genius...lol! Russian is a dope kid, he's coming into his own, but he's still waiting on developing a NEW act and bussin dem to di world....All great producers have done that....It's easy to voice Kartel and get a hit record.....But take a 3rd place contestant like Laden from Rising Stars and make him a hit artist? That shows you got that secret sauce.......Russian will soon find his "sauce"...

Q: Do you believe in sampling throwback riddims and giving them new life?

A: Yeah, it can be cool....But make sure the tunes are dope as hell, cause if they ain't as hot as the original records, you've just wasted everybody's time.....

If you would like to ask Mister Harding anything related to the Music Business click the link & ask away!

http://www.formspring.me/misterharding



You can also follow Mister Harding on twitter

http://twitter.com/MisterHarding