October 31, 2007, 9:58 am
What is your name? Age? And where are you from? Michael G. aka Ras attitude, I am 25. I was born in the Virgin Islands live there for a few years, went Jamaica for a little bit, I would say for a year and a half or two years, came back lived in the virgin island, travel all over with my mom. She went to New Hampshire, Boston, all different places in America. So I was with her most of the time in America.
How long you have been in America? I can't count the years, cause the years really fly by fast. I have experience America since the age of eleven; well I was younger than that, but I can tell you that from eleven I remember myself being an American, and knowing about American and knowing the streets of Boston and them ting deh.
How long you have been singing? From I know myself, I been singing from about six, playing the piano with mommy, I remember all dem time deh, and I probably been singing before then.
How did you decide that you wanted to become a singer? What influence you? I could say my mom, my mom is the one who really inspire me to do these things, she sings gospel music by the way, and she had her own band and everything and I would be at rehearsal, I would be at the show, every place that mommy went I went. Just seeing her on the stage and excited, and the people cheering, and loving what she do, I was like yeah I could do this.
So she pass it on to you? Yes, actually she use to always tell me that when she was pregnant with me, she use to hold a speaker with music, hold it by her stomach. All the time mom use to have us around the piano, my other two brothers could sing too, but I am just the only one who would be around her and see the niceness about the stage, and they never experience that, so they have stage fright.
Who did you listen to growing up? Not just reggae, but everything you listen? I actually didn't really listen to reggae, like that. I can say when I got to the age of ten or eleven, when I bun a little spliff, being around my brothers and stuff, cause my older brother came to live with use about that time, at that time he came around with Bob Marley, listening to peter Tosh, I didn't even know about Bob Marley until later on. I knew about Peter Tosh before Bob Marley, I learned about Burning Spear and dem man deh way before I learned about Bob Marley, Israel Vibration. I was listening to Bobby Brown coming up, Bobby Brown, New Edition, and Michael Jackson, a lot of James Brown oldies but goodies.
What's the one thing you would be proud to say you have accomplished? Get a house for mommy, a nice house of mommy, when I reach to Africa that would be the biggest achievement, like if the music takes me to Africa, they call me to Africa to sing a song or something, then I could say yeah, this is a big achievement for me to go back home and the people they know me in Africa.
Which artist would you like to work with in the future? All of the, every single one if I can. I could say the prophet, Capleton, Sizzla, I want to work with Mikey General, my number singer that.
What producer would you like to work with, if your were making an album? Sly and Robbie, the veterans them, tonh gong fi sure you know the Marley Brothers, and probably a Hip Hop producer. Jammys and Scorpio, Ward 21 Y
ou feel like you can break into the dancehall industry being based in Virginia? No, well I done a lot of breaking, in Virginia, cause when I came to Virginia nobody really knew me, and know I can say a quantity of Virginia know me, as far as from the Hip Hop heads down to the reggae heads. I am not just hitting the reggae market alone, being that I am in Virginia, I got to hit the hip hop market too, Sean Paul, will I can't even big up them man first, Beenie man and all them man deh, Capleton actually bust they way, when he do a song with method man on def jam. As far as hip hop and reggae coming together, Capleton actually bust the way and Supercat bust everything.
So you believe in crossing over? I can't call it crossing over; I can call it moving up. When I say moving up I mean you're not stuck on one skill, like reggae is my skill, but I could rap, cause I can do anything God make I n I to do. If I am sitting in a studio and a man come say, and I want to show you how to build a Hip Hop beat, I am going to take that lesson and I am going to step up with it instead of stepping across. It's more upwards, that's what I am dealing with, more upfull things. I can't call it crossing over cause Hip-Hop actually came from reggae music.
You getting any air play around here? Actually yeah, I just did a hook for DMP (local rap group), I did a couple of hooks for their album and their album is out, and I haven't heard it but a couple of people tell me it's on the stations. I get airplay with badjoe once in a while, as far as Virginia the airplay is not really hardcore, cause by the time we got to Virginia with all the Cd's, and everything we was limited, being that we are and independent label, we don't have big distributor.
What's your label called? Sound Vizion, we were based in Alexandria Virginia, that's where I did my album, but he moved the studio down to St. Croix VI.
Are you going to be touring in the future? Yeah, I just got management too so, I want to see how she's going to be working,. I am trying to do my own tour independently, me and some other artist. I was thinking a couple of Atlanta artist and some artist from the Virgin Islands.
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