The inaugural staging of IMC music conference sponsored by YouTube Black sessions got under way Wednesday February 8, moderated by a team from YouTube in the U.S.. The conference organized by reggae superstar Shaggy, music manager Sharon Burke and media practitioner Judith Bodley is aimed at helping Jamaican content creators a musicians navigate the streaming era.
Stand out sessions on day 1 include a panel discussion with dancehall artist Valiant who said he will continue to do the music the people want to hear.
In A discussion held at the Courtley Auditorium in New Kingston, Jamaica titled “Power Of The Pen” the DJ added that, “I will do the music the people want to hear.” He wittily added, “when I have their ears, then I will do the music I want them to hear.”
Valiant also performed a few of his YouTube hits including Bruk Days and Dunce Check which have both peaked at No. 1 on YouTube Jamaica.
Hot 97 Dj Shani Kulture who was also on the panel backed up Valiant statements but added, “one of the key things is kinda understanding the formula that works universally. You know there is a certain level of bpm, sometimes you have to express how you feel.”
In the final panel fo the day before the “Chairman’s dinner titled “Global Influence Of Caribbean Music” with Shaggy, Lila Ike, and Teejay moderated by Tuma Basa, Lila said that her music is influenced by multiple genres because of the time she came of age.
“I share the same sentiment that every music inspire every music, being a 20 year old girl in 2023, the music I am going to be making gonna sound different. Everybody want to claim that they are innovators, verses celebrating how influential Jamaican music is, we have seen what our music has done.”
“If you even study we as the younger generation, we don’t even do dancehall music, because most of the time whe I get the 90s dancehall beat I cyah even bodda with that. So most of the time we go back to 90s hip hop and mix it with the new sound”
Lila Ike
Shaggy advised the young youths, “Try to make music that don’t have a ceiling, the more we get caught up in the cultural emotions of it. Me remember when it was an abomination to play a hip hop chune or a soca.”
Shaggy also spoke about the history of Jamaican music and recalled the way Bob Marley was treated in the early days.
“There was a certain artist that was criticized in his time, that’s Bob Marley. In fairness Marley’s music is a hybrid and its ironic its now the template for what is reggae music,” he said.
The 54 year old hitmaker also challenged artist to move outside of their comfort zone.
“You cannot get growth by being in your comfort zone, aim to be criticized and be uncomfortable, I am loving the mixtures of music, with soca, and R&B and afro, because that way you eliminate the ceiling.”
The Angel singer spoke on the need for better work ethics among Jamaican artist and music practitioners.
“I always say that stars promote culture but superstars shifts culture,” he wisely states.
” I am talking about a star that has superhero charisma, work ethic drive.”
He recalls DJ Yellowman being a culture shifter in a time when there was limited representation and radio stations for dancehall.
“When yellowman became massive, reggae wasn’t even 2 percent of the market share, these are artist who will make all the bells and whistles and make the world pay attention. You would look at Yellowman and say who the fuck is that, that is a superstar. Shabba only sold Gold, but you could not deny Shabba’s presence when he was in the room. He was always on, always performing.”
-Shaggy
The multi-platinum superstar says the lack of development in Jamaica’s music industry is due to mangers and players behind the scenes who have no clue how to monetize the brands and culture.
“We had great artists, but we didn’t have great enough people in charge. A lot of managers didn’t even understood…me never know either, a later on me learn this,” he said.
“Thats why we need to talk about financial literacy, because it’s not about making the money but is what you do with it and where to invest it.”
Shaggy
