'Jamaican Flava' Tells the Story of Falling in Love With the Island
Kingston, JA: Last September Jamaican music ambassador Richie Stephens completed a successful two week Asian tour that took him to Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore.
While there he did several shows including a live performance at CÉ LA VI, an iconic night club at the Marina Bay Sands Skypark in Singapore where he met Singaporean/Canadian artist MASIA ONE. The two struck up a fast friendship and earlier this year she visited Jamaica. The two recorded three songs including a soon to be released single/video titled 'Jamaican Flava' and a combination track with Denny Siregar - the leading Ska singer in Indonesia.
"Jamaican Flava tells the story of someone falling in love with Jamaica for the first time" MASIA shared.
"I grew up listening to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Toots & Maytal...when I touched down in Jamaica for the first time it really was like going on a date. Falling in love with the beauty, the music, the food & culture and the fun! I have often described to my fans and friends the vibes in Jamaica that I love - and now they can see it for themselves in this video.
Artistically it's a dream to work with Richie Stephens on our first collaboration song - keeping the vibes light hearted and fun to reflect the 'Jamaican Flavas' I love."
The video for 'Jamaica Flava' will be released on April 15. It was shot on location at Reggae Falls in Hillside, St Thomas; at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston; the Edward Seaga highway that links St Ann and Kingston and a beach scene was shot at Ocho Rios Bay. The single will be released globally on digital platforms on April 19 by DubShot Records & Distribution.
Named the Queen of South East Asian hiphop & reggae, MASIA ONE has worked with hip-hop legend Dr Dre, Pharrell Williams, The Game, RZA (Wu Tang Clan) and John Frusciante (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) and was the first female to be nominated for an MTV Canadian award. Her hit 'Warriors Tongue' was sampled by iconic American DJ / producer Bass Nectar for the title track of the movie Fast and Furious 8. She is the founder and creative director of Singapura Dub Club, the premier island culture events company in Singapore and a hub bringing Asian Ragga flavours to the rest of the world.
"Masia is my bonafide sister from Singapore. We share so much in common. Recording a song together was a great way of merging the two cultures...Jamaica and Singapore in song and dance and that translates to one love" Stephens said.
Stephens is an award winning singer and a global superstar for over three decades. In 2016 he was honored with a Pop award at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards in Hollywood and an R&B award at the 30th annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul (R&B) Music Awards in Beverly Hills, CA. In 2017 he collected two international awards in England from ASCAP - "Song of the Year" and "Digital Sales of the Year" - for his contribution to Rhianna's single 'Work," which was among the top ASCAP songs on the 2016 year-end charts.
He will embark on a promotional 'Jamaican Flava' tour of Asia in August that will include concert performances and radio and television interviews.
"Asia is an untapped market for reggae music. China has a population of 1.3 billion people and India has about 1.2 billion people. Can you imagine the possibilities for our music if we are able to penetrate that lucrative market? It is mind boggling" he exclaimed!
