Jamaican Reggae singer Phil Watkis says dancehall newcomer Valiant jacked his style when he recorded the controversial Rasta song.
Phil, who now lives in Florida is a songwriter, guitarist and performer and details the making of his unreleased song “Rasta Touch.”
“2018 I was on tour in Europe, when I opened for Tarrus Riley and on that tour I got a riddim from a bredrin and in listening to the beat the first thing came to me was “Rasta Touch,” he sings.
Phil Watkis
The Excelsior Community College graduate says a demo of the song he was released on what status using people if the song is worth recording. He says the phrasing he used in his song is the same one used with a speed up tempo on Valiant’s song “Rasta.”
“Man a live like Rasta no beef no pasta, rasta nuh lef dem bittaz, coulda be a slimmaz, or thickaz or biggaz,” he freestyles for WMV.
The Kingcham directed music video for Valiant’s No. 1 song Rasta has surpassed 3.5 million views on YouTube. Still Phil says although his “Rasta Touch” was ‘first’ he has no hard feelings for Valiant and sees the alleged copy more as an opportunity for both songs to flourish.
“Big up Valiant, a me artist, mi nuh business him a talk bout dunce check or nuttn, the youth have talent and me love him melodies, him actually come and spruce up dancehall for a minute, him actually bring a vibe and me really love the artist and in the event my song gets more popular it has something to juggle with,” the St. Ann native says.
Watkis says he plans to release a music video for his song “Rasta Touch.” He released a roots reggae music video for the song “Test Of Time” on YouTube today.
Watch below:
