Kranium Releases New ‘Toxic’ EP, Speaks On His Love For Music And Defending Dancehall

For a long time Jamaicans have validated, and in so doing spread, the idea that artists native to the country need to break out locally or risk not breaking internationally. This has remained so for a long time because the so-called theory had not been tried and tested to its limits, until recently.

In 2013, Dancehall artist Kemar Donaldson of a New York address was really beginning to make waves with this fresh track titled Nobody Has To Know. Eventually, the track became a smash hit selling over 39,000 copies in 2015, and the world had its first formal introduction to Kranium.  Nowadays the Mobay native goes by Melody Gad, and for good reason given the string of hits singles released since then, including Can’t Believe featuring Ty Dolla Sign and Wizkid, the Risky Remix with Davido, Gal Policy, and its remix featuring Tiwa Savage. Yet, he remains humble.

The deejay says his new Toxic EP is the perfect appetizer for his forthcoming debut album.  The EP bears five tracks including the title track, his 2020 smash Gal Policy, Block Traffic with Rytikal, Through The Window, and Won’t Judge which received a visual treatment today to mark the EP’s release.  He’s confident that the project will be well-received and said it captures his musical growth since his 2015  Rumours EP.

Kranium shared that he actually intended to release an EP during the early buzz of Gal Policy, but delayed the project because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  “Most of the songs were recorded in COVID,” he said. “To promote a record it’s like the shows, the interviews and stuff like that and because that has been taken away from us we had to push it back to now. We realise seh we still in a pandemic so now it’s like let’s select the songs that we think are strong enough to give them an appetizer.”

Our interview with the Gad of Melody reveals his true love for music, his passion for Dancehall, and his honesty about living outside the traditional relationship structures of the western world.

Have you ever been given books as gifts? If so which book?

Art of war is one of the first books somebody gave me as a gift, and it was a woman too, funny enough.

Which 2 books have greatly influenced your life?

To be honest, me is a man weh scan through a lot of books. I don’t really sit down and read the whole thing. Like someone gave me The Secrets, I read a part of it, but the last book that caught my interest was Fuck It. I read Steve Harvey’s book Think Like A Man, it was one of the only books I ever read through fully, because it was so interesting the idea of a man giving away the secrets.

What’s the cheapest purchase you’ve made, that impacts your life the most positively?

Therapy.

That’s recently?

Yeah recently, right before lockdown so I would say I did therapy for the first time in July last year. I’ve been going ever since, sometimes I call if I can’t go in.

That’s good because I feel like nuff a we in the black communities globally need therapy.

Yeah but like for me, I feel like everybody go through stuff on a daily basis but I feel like artists don’t take full responsibility of their actions most of the times and that is because of the subconscious thing in the back of your brain telling you that you don’t need it because of who you are[successful, famous]. It is a thing I feel like every artist should invest in at least once or twice a month. It makes a difference, Me see the difference weh it make with me. Yeah so I feel like therapy is very important for most artists, they live a hectic lifestyle.

There is for sure that voice, when you find a way to make yourself successful, that tells you you don’t need it because you already have success.

Hundred percent, that’s wah me did a tell myself, because mi feel like me have everything weh me want. Like music is one of the most– everybody have dem stress y’know, but depends on the level you reach inna music; it’s really stressful. I think it age you.

Most worthwhile investment?

Property. Land.

How often do you make music?

Well, I practice more than I make music, so me is a man practice everyday. Meaning I will just listen to music beats, mostly old school beats– I don’t really like to give away my secret per say of how i create music but if I’m going to make an album I reset my eardrums. Meaning Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Beach Boys you know weh mi mean? I’ll go from like Motown come right up to the early 90s but I don’t usually go past there.

Yeah I find myself doing a similar thing, I don’t know if it’s because during those times the music was much more instrumental, more musical, with melodies and great stories.

Yes because back then artists didn’t have much say on production. Now a man want tell a producer what to do. I feel like it’s reached a point in the music now where an artist is a producer, and manager at the same time.

Back then a man just go inna the studio and Quincy Jones would have the beat already he wouldn’t have a choice. So I feel like because musicians now don’t have their full job. If you’re a musician– because to me, I always break it down into three; you have a artist, you have entertainer and you have musician. So the artist just go inna the studio go make music. The entertainer is the person who makes the music, goes on stage and gives you a good show. The musician makes the music, goes on stage and plays the instruments. So most of us stuck at artist and we still won’t give the producer his job. It’s ok to give ideas and suggestions but let a man do their job.

Some artists see music as a kind of therapy, are you one of those artists?

Not necessarily. For me, it’s just for storytelling. Some people use it as therapy, some people really go create music and that makes them feel better. For me, is not that I don’t feel good when I make music because I love music but me is a storyteller. So my music– I don’t think I’ve ever had a hit that wasn’t a story, it’s always something. Like all my big songs Gal Policy, Nobody Has To Know, “Can’t believe me take him girl from him”, “Last night one piece a sumn”, “We can touch if you feel you want to”, it’s always– like fi me I’m a good storyteller. So I stay in that realm.

You are distinguished and almost tucked away from the typical hype of the Dancehall scene, yet you maintain a presence through smash hits, did you always envision that for yourself when you started making music or was it just a natural gradual thing?

Honestly, it was like a build for me. It was gradual because when Nobody Has To Know came out in 2013/4 it put me in a space where I was the only one with a big hit record. So when I started going on the road now, I realize that when I dropped Buy Weh You Want Buy , there’s was a difference between that and Nobody Has To Know . So I learned the difference between a known song and a hit song. So I just didn’t want anymore known song, I wanted hit songs.

Me live in America, I had bills to pay, a dollar is a dollar. So when I’m in New York and I see that a US dollar is not like in Jamaica where it’s a hundred and thirty six Jamaican dollars; a dollar is only a dollar, I had to make a choice. I had to be smart, creative, and try to maneuver through. I look at it in the long run even as a young person. I wanted to make sure say when mi done, I have a lot of great things coming my way because of what I contributed. Mi nuh know when it a go come, but I just feel it will because I’m set up for the bigger picture. So I feel like that’s what motivates me.

For someone as well-traveled as you, how are you adjusting to a no-fly, no performance music world?

Honestly, for me, I just don’t want one more year of it, but the one year off was amazing to me. Because I’ve been on the road constantly for five years. So like now it’s like a break, taking time to spend with family and just chill. I don’t care about the not flying part, but one thing I know now, anytime I go back on the road again, mi a take full advantage of every opportunity I get to go and see places. Mi look inna mi passport the other day and I’ve been almost everywhere in the world but I never really see the place. I just see the stage show and the airport, but those days are done.

Your music seems to contain a lot of instances of polygamy, which is a difficult conversation for many people, but what do you say to people who think that we shouldn’t be having that conversation?

Ahmm, grow up and face the facts of life. Yuh man out deh a cheat pon yuh and yuh woman out deh a cheat pon yuh and it’s something that people will always do til the end of the world. That’s why one of the biggest songs to come out of Jamaica is, It Wasn’t Me, by Shaggy and RikRok.

People are afraid to talk about it because they are so sensitive on the topic, but if you know say you a do good to your man and if the man a do good to you, that’s fine. Likewise the men and their women, these songs don’t have anything to do with you. Just enjoy the music. But there’s a man like me out there who is going to sing about the things that happen in relationships. I take up that responsibility as a man, to talk about things that everybody is afraid to talk about and unuh nuh hear nothing yet. Now me about fi go a level two.

Listen to Kranium’s Toxic EP below.