Skatta Burrell Says Dancehall Artists Who Sue Producers After Informal Arrangements Are Deceitful

Music producer Cordell ‘Skatta’ Burrell has described as unprincipled and dishonourable, Dancehall artists who turn around and sue music producers after, ‘agreeing in principle’ to record songs without the requisite written contracts in place, even though their unwritten arrangements were fair and equitable.

Skatta was speaking on The Fix Podcast recently, in the wake of Dancehall artiste Khago’s recent threats to file lawsuits against several music producers for copyright breaches.

“Is nice dat everybaddy a sway back to di business aspect of it now, but if you are an artiste and you know in dat time, you and di producer had that agreement, mentally, for you to come back round now, yuh know seh yuh kinda really being deceitful still.” Skatta said.

“A lot of them are being deceitful coming back now a seh: ‘yuh know seh mi neva sign no paper fi dah song deh’.  But you were in agreement with it before it was released.  You endorsed; yuh go pon stage and sing di song; yuh nev bad-mouth di producer.  Not one time, yuh neva call him out.  But now, dem a learn di business; now nuff a dem a learn di business seh yuh may have a case, an dem a try back-track and a seh:  ‘yow, mi a guh dig a food offa such man, wuss mi nuh too like him, he added.

Skatta said over the decades, most music recording arrangements between producers and artistes, have been predicated on ‘gentleman’s agreements’ between the parties, particularly due to the producers like himself having heavy workloads, and not due to them trying to siphon off money from artiste’s records.

“I have established that work ethic (written contracts) in my time.  I have done quite a few and I have not done quite a few.   There was a time when my studio was like a factory, just a pump out, a push out, so mi nuh have time fi sign no paper an artiste nuh waan sign no paper, dem jus a voice an a hit yu up: ‘when mi song a mix?’  ‘When mi song a release?’” Skatta explained.

“There is a cultural trend in Jamaica; artistes do not like to put pen to paper in this country.  No care how simple; it could be a one sheet a paper, most a dem don’t like fi sign dem.   Ninety percent of the songs recorded in Reggae and Dancehall, they are released without an artiste putting pen to paper.  Ninety percent – probably more and this has been going on from di early nineties come straight dung to present… Is not everybody love put pen to paper and is kind of  a tradition,” he said.

The Billboard-charting producer re-emphasized that most artists are not concerned with contracts, as their main focus is to get their songs to be released, so they can, among other things reap the benefits via voicing dub plates, accrue bookings for shows.

“Artiste nuh care.  Dem jus waan get dem song a road fi promote and shoot dem video and suh forth.  Suh a so Dancehall grow, an a suh Dancehall build,” the Calabar High School old boy said.

Skatta said he has had to defend a lawsuit filed against him in the past, but declined to give details.

“Das why mi tell everybaddy she when dat ting come across, teck it seriously.  You may be within your rights and you give it up because you neva address it.  It is not a nice feeling; I am telling you,” he stated.