Music legends urge players to keep culture alive

Veteran dancehall-reggae producer Cleveland 'Clevie' Browne and saxophonist Dean Fraser have urged musicians and artistes to maintain the Jamaican culture.

They were among the honourees at the second staging of the Grammy Certification Ceremony, held last Saturday in Kingston. Clevie, from the production duo Steely and Clevie opined that in an effort to continue to shape the direction in which reggae and dancehall should continue, while maintaining its legacy, industry players must "always keep the culture alive and not stray into other cultures".

"Jamaica has a unique culture based on our history and it's most important to keep that in the music and that's something we [Steely and I] always did; to look at where we coming from and keep it Jamaican - keep di ackee and di saltfish and di breadfruit and dumplin' in di music," he shared with a smile.

Fraser also advised younger artistes and musicians on maintaining that cultural aspect in their work as, "good music will never go unnoticed; suh just keep on making good music".

Clevie said that he had to join Grammy certification initiative after seeing it unfold last year.

"I thought that, 'This was good' - it's a good thing to do because so many artistes and musicians have passed and never got their roses, so I said 'I will support this because it's important," Clevie told THE STAR just few minutes after collecting his awards. In agreement, Fraser commended the ceremony - organised by Back 2 Da Future Music, Royalty Network Inc. and Steely & Clevie Productions - as an "excellent effort we all have to applaud".

"It is so good that these musicians, producers, singers/songwriters, computer engineers are being able to be recognised for the great works that they have done over the years. We have to show appreciation to Back 2 Da Future, Kenny (founder Kenneth Mensah) and di crew and just seh 'Give thanks,'" Fraser told THE STAR.

Clevie, who was awarded for his work in reshaping reggae and ushering in the digital dancehall era while influencing genres far beyond local shores, said he was left stunned after the show's recognition of some of his earlier years of work.

"I had forgotten about some of my work that I had done over the years, so to go back and remind you of those is good and I support it. It's most important for musicians and artistes to be given their roses while they're alive because for instance, I'm happy to see [the late] Steely's children being able to see and understand the work he put in and to see that his work is long-lasting and he never received his roses. So they are here now to stand proud as children of a great musician and producer," said Clevie.

The Grammy-winning drummer/producer received multiple certificates under the 'Steely & Clevie Gold Disc Presentations' section of the ceremony, which honoured the unsung musical architects whose tremendous work on Grammy winning/nominated projects have helped shape the reggae/dancehall musical culture and put Jamaica on the map.

Clevie was recognised for his work as Grammy-winning drummer/producer on Sean Paul's 2004 Dutty Rock album. He was also lauded with certificates for his creative input on Beenie Man's Art and Life album in 2001 that won the Best Reggae Album Award at the Grammy's 43rd staging. Clevie's fingerprints are also imprinted on Shabba Ranks' Grammy-winning albums X-tra Naked (1993), and As Raw As Ever (1992). Clevie was also recognised for his contributions to Grammy-nominated albums including Buju Banton's Upside Down 2020, and Jimmy Cliff's Black Magic (2005).

Fraser, whose soulful sounds have been woven into classic albums by Damian Marley, Lauryn Hill, Sean Paul and countless others, expressed deep gratitude in being granted multiple Grammy certificates.

"We're always very grateful and we can't tek things fi granted, yuh just affi work hard and keep it going," said Fraser. He was recognised for his work on Burning Spear's Grammy-nominated album Resistance in 1986 and Judy Mowatt's 1986 Working Wonders Grammy-nominated album. Fraser also contributed to Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers' Play the Game Right which was also nominated for the Grammy in 1986, and Beenie Man's Art and Life.