Reggae band Inner Circle‘s founder, Ian Lewis, says Jamaican reggae has lost its appeal on the global stage, making way for a new breed of artists mainly based on the West Coast of America. In an interview with Anthony Miller of ER, Lewis says the rising California reggae scene is attracting audiences willing to pay for concert tickets.
“They are targeting the demographic that will come out and listen to what they are playing. They call it reggae, and we might not feel it the same way they do, but it’s appealing to their demographic,” he said of the neo-reggae bands like Stick Figure, Slightly Stoopid, SOJA and others.
Lewis and his band found success in the 1990s with platinum hits like “Bad Boys,” which became the theme song for the TV series Cops, as well as the Bad Boys franchise soundtrack. Their 1992 hit, “Sweat (A La La La La Long),” was certified Gold in the US and the UK, selling more than 500,000 and 400,000 units, respectively, last summer.
The veteran bass player says that in those times, being a musician mattered, as opposed to now when producers are getting their beats from YouTube. “In those days, you couldn’t just draw some computer crap and say it could work; no, you wouldn’t get through.”
“I think it has caused us to lose international respect,” Lewis says of the changes in the way reggae music is being made now.
He suggests unity on all fronts to get back to the promised land of chart success.
“We need to work together in commerce, in music, in management, in videos, in content to show what we really have. This is a gold mine, but we are not united,” he laments. Lewis, who runs the world-famous Circle House Studios in Miami, says old and new school acts should find common ground.
“If the new school and the old school can meet and compromise on certain things and bring it back, jerk it to the center, reggae without the baseline is like beating out of time. I don’t want to lose that. I’m going to fight hard to hold it up,” he contends.
Jason Mraz‘s reggae-infused hit, “I’m Yours,” which is ferried 13x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is the top selling reggae single in the US.
It is the 2008 the lead single from the album “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things,” and the song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending a record-breaking 76 weeks on the chart. With over 13 million units of streams and sales, it stands among the top-selling digital songs of all time.
Editor’s note: This article has been adjusted to reflect “concert ticket prices” which prodigally said $300.
