Reggae all day: Reggae Day
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 24, 2000 9:00 p.m.
By Judy Pak
Daily Bruin Contributor
The artistic restlessness of Spragga Benz, a.k.a. Carlton Grant,
his powerful rhythmic skills and penetrating lyrics have provided
hits with that nameless quality in Jamaican dancehall since he
released “Jack It Up” eight years ago. Due to the
inconstant nature of DJing, the Jamaican equivalent of rapping,
Grant’s maintenance of energy and fusion is an exceptional
achievement.
A challenge from Buju Banton opened the door to a career in
deejaying.
“I got started almost by an accident when a friend of mine
was doing some dub plates for a sound system,” said Grant in
a phone interview. “We started doing some freestyling off the
top of my head and started to react positively.”
That night a superstar was born.
“It encouraged me. I said to myself that I should go home
and make a song,” said Grant “That’s right when
everything just took off.”
At that time, Grant’s slim physique got him the nickname
“Spaghetti” ““ later abridged to Spragga ““
and he lived near Ricky Villa, friend and owner of the La Benz
sound system.
“It is common for an artist to adopt a name from a sound
system, so I just put Spragga and La Benz together” said
Grant.
“Fully Loaded” is Spragga’s third album and
the long anticipated follow-up to 1995’s “Uncommonly
Smooth.” “Wey Ya Sey Star,” the first single cut
about stardom, is currently seizing reggae dancehall airwaves
internationally.
“This album is more concentrated and I had more time to
get it together,” said Grant “This one shows a lot of
maturing and openness that wasn’t there before, like a
freedom.”
Experience has made expression easier for him. “You can
see the confidence in the way I talk, the beats, and the
flow,” said Grant.
Experimentation resulted in the brand new flavor and
collaborations that color Grant’s latest album with
vivacity.
“I like a trying new stuff to see if it works and
reggae-wise,” said Grant. “You gotta keep most current
and be with the new stuff. Leave the old stuff behind cause
it’s already been done.”
“Backshot” is a collegial face-off with dancehall
rapper Lady Saw. It’s a Jamaican counterpart to Beck’s
“Odelay”: both are wildly eclectic and wildly popular
““ Grant’s thanks mainly to the hit single “No
Way,” a remix over Busta Rhyme’s “Put Your Hand
Where My Eyes Can See,” which has been rocking underground
clubs everywhere.
Premium hip-hop talent reappear on “Fully Loaded” as
Foxy Brown joins Spragga on the track “Too Stoosh” in
which the two hurl brutal sexual darts at each other. Also, he is
joined by both Foxy Brown and Lady Saw, alongside hip-hop MCs
Shinehead, Noreaga, and Pras, in the video for “Wey Ya Say
Star.”
It is easy to see how this young Jamaican has become a dominant
figure in dancehall, the rap-reggae hybrid that’s displaced
old-school reggae as much as hip hop has displaced soul.
“It is easy working with hip hop because that’s a
good vibe,” said Grant. “We can identify with each
other.”
Grant’s sudden inspirations and risky improvisations
produced the unique essence of his music.
“Most of the time, it’s like accidental cases where
we be in the studio and either one of us might be working and the
other might hear the beats and just get bit by the bug,” said
Grant.
“That’s when either of us said “˜Yo mon,
let’s do this together,'” said Grant.
“It’s a lot spontaneous and I never have it
planned.”
Grant describes his music as a contemporary blend of street,
dance, and reggae, a mix of the old with the new. “It’s
urban, meaning urban from a mixture of urban alternative
dancehall,” said Grant. “That music has culture,
upliftment, and all the stuff from reggae but basically it’s
like younger generation with a faster, revolutionary, and
rebellious type lyrics.”
The album’s 21 tracks reveal an accumulation of urban
experiences, from sex to self-sufficiency to empowerment to mike
battles. It concludes with the solid foundation of spirituality in
“Sleep With Angels” where the deceased are honored and
celebrated.
Grant’s talent is not just limited to music. He is set to
make his feature film debut in the much awaited Marc Levin urban
drama, “Brooklyn Babylon.” The film features “The
Root’s” Black Thought in the lead role as an aspiring
Rasta rapper who falls in love with a young Jewish girl.
“In a club scene, I basically played myself and give a
performance,” said Grant. “Black Thought and his
friends come in and admire me and think “˜yo, I want to be
like that'”
Acting is not the only possible expansion and that’s no
surprise for someone as multifaceted as Spragga Benz.
“Entertainment is entertainment,” he said.
“Music was my choice in the field so I be the best at music
that I can be but later on during the field, I think I might be
going into like producing, management, and some acting.”
Grant aims to court a wider audience with his diversity and
open-mind. His own politics and creeds don’t stop him from
being a world superstar, and his international stature didn’t
cost him any points at home.
In borrowing inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, Spragga
Benz is in the mainstream of pop tradition. And for now, the
further his musical travels take him, the more new fans will
follow.
All his prosperity in the music industry is credited as the work
of God in his opening cut “Praise,” where he glorifies
“The Father, the son, me mother, me dad, me woman and the
kids that me have.”
“My work is the force of the Father,” said Grant.
“And I know the credit has to go to him because it
wasn’t something I was planning on doing.”
MUSIC: Spragga Benz will play the UCLA JazzReggae Festival at
4:30 p.m. on Monday. Admission is free for UCLA students, faculty
and staff, and $3 for others. Tickets are available at the Central
Ticket Office the day of the event. Call 310-205-2555 for more
information.
