Skeng On Signing To Geejam: “The Cheese Was Right”
Dancehall star Skeng says he picked Jon Baker’s Geejam Music, of all the labels that expressed an interest, because the offer was right.
“It’s a full publishing deal with several options when it is done. The cheese was right,” the Protocol deejay told World Music Views.
On Tuesday, DancehallMag first reported that Skeng and his friends and producers John Coop & Shacko Di Truth had signed with Geejam Music, and that the label had signed a global publishing deal with Downtown Music Services.
The arrangement will provide “funded music publishing administration and label services” for Skeng, Shacko and Coop, as well as Geejam’s existing catalog and its existing roster of songwriters and producers.
John Coop, whose real name is Malik Miller, producer of Skeng’s Rain Like Hail, Brrrp, and Jahshii’s Keep Up, said he was grateful for the opportunity.
“We’re trying; youths with skills and big plans. Geejam made it easy for us to learn and ask questions, something that other labels made seem harder to understand,” Coop said.
Added Shacko Di Truth: “It’s a good feeling for our works and talents to be noticed by people out of Jamaica. It means we are doing something right. Most of us using the same tools to make music but few of us are extra creative, so we stand out.”
Geejam Music, which is headquartered in Jamaica, includes the “premier” Geejam Studios recording facility in Port Antonio, which was founded by hotel mogul Jon Baker in 1998.
Baker told WMV that he had asked his son Che, who lives in the UK, which artist he would sign if he had the opportunity, and the 15-year-old answered that Skeng was the most interesting Dancehall artist in Jamaica right now.
“There is an exciting musical renaissance at play in Jamaica now and I am delighted to be partnering with Downtown Music for publishing administration and label services,” Baker had said in a release.
“Having been part of the Jamaican music scene for over 30 years, since my tenure as President of Chris Blackwell’s Island Jamaica in the early 90s, I believe now is the time to offer a true alternative to what is currently on offer for Jamaican artists and writers alike.”
“Our partnership [with Downtown] will provide an international platform for the release of homegrown Jamaican music via the Geejam Music label and see the reactivation of Gee Street Recordings for our international artistes with an A&R presence in the UK and US,” he continued.
In addition to administering copyrights, Downtown Music’s services include royalty collection, songwriter development, catalog marketing, neighboring rights, and financing services. They can arrange co-writing opportunities and can place their songwriter’s compositions in film, television, advertising, and video game productions.
According to their website, Downtown’s roster includes Dancehall megastar Shaggy, film composer Hans Zimmer, the Beatles’ John Lennon, Matoma, Miles Davis, Robin Thicke, Tori Amos and the Wu-Tang Clan, among others.