Raphael ‘Raph’ Vivet, a music producer and disc jockey from France, was at all times searching for to discover the sights and sounds of the world, however one tradition which stood out for the artistic was Jamaica’s. Raised in Tignes, a small vacationer commune with a inhabitants of roughly 2,000 folks, he dominated the area as one of many few disc jockeys who performed reggae music.
“After travelling to work … particularly 10 nations in Asia … and [returning] dwelling, I used to be like, ‘No…there’s extra to see.’ I used to be anxious to see extra,” Raph advised The Gleaner. “So, I did my analysis [and] checked which nations France partnered with for its nationals to get working visas.”
Raph subsequently lived in Canada for a number of years till he made the sojourn to Jamaica, the place he has been residing for the previous 4 years. He mentioned he was launched to dancehall after visiting the island and turning into extra acclimatised to the road get together tradition. The fifth version of Iba Mahr’s Sound Di Alarm Reggae Music Pageant in 2019 was the launch pad for him on native grounds, he mentioned.
“Coming to Jamaica to stay right here was one of the best transfer I made by way of my life and my profession. As a result of I’m a DJ first, it was obligatory for me to discover. I additionally wished to evolve, and Sound Di Alarm helped me. On the time, it was Sativa Sound. I had lived in Canada earlier than transferring to Jamaica, and I received settled nearly when the pandemic began,” Raph shared.
He added, “As an alternative of dashing, I studied how folks performed on the street dance and finally made buddies, who booked me. Then, I remained right here whereas nearly each artiste was caught due to the lockdowns. It helped me to develop my attain and get related with a lot of them. That’s once I took the subsequent step in my profession [and] began the Gold Up Music label with my pal Zack Ariyah, who is predicated in Montreal, Canada.”
Gold Up Music made its debut with the discharge of the one Belong With Me, that includes Shenseea, then Bubble It with Busy Sign. The manufacturing outfit can also be behind Laa Lee’s viral hit, Leggo Di Hen. The 2 producers launched their first compilation album, dubbed Prelude, two years in the past. Final week they hosted the launch of their sophomore album, Introduction, throughout Tremendous Heavy, held at Janga’s Soundbar and Grill in Kingston.
Raph mentioned the album goals to reawaken the dancehall fanbase on the worldwide scene by creating cross-cultural connections with the Jamaican style and “different genres which were born out of it, reminiscent of reggaeton, and even the Afrobeats combination with dancehall now”.
“We work with a whole lot of African artistes, and on the subject of dancehall, there’s a whole lot of assist in Nigeria and Ghana, [so] on the album you will notice collaborations between artistes from these nations with Jamaican acts. Not sufficient collaborations are occurring, and we additionally need to deliver again the enjoyable of the style and in collaborating,” Raph mentioned.
A number of the African artistes featured on the 14-track album are Kelvyn Boy (Ghana), Shatta Wale (Ghana) and Reekado Banks (Nigeria). Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Nation Boss, Charly Black, Elephant Man, Busy Sign, Skillibeng and, after all, Laa Lee, are additionally featured on Introduction, which is at the moment celebrating 1.8 million streams in a single week and hitting primary in six totally different nations, together with Nigeria, Germany, Taiwan, Cape Verde, New Zealand and Canada.
He additionally shared that one other aim of Gold Up Music was to get on the Billboard charts.
