Capleton Announces New Album, Says He’s The ‘Collab King’ After Recording With 30 Artists
Reggae/Dancehall superstar Capleton says he has been in musical overdrive, spending time in the studio working on a new album, duets with his contemporaries, as well as on approximately 30 collaborations with upcoming artists.
The album will be Capleton‘s first new studio project in over a decade.
Speaking on Irie FM’s E-Buzz last evening, the Billboard-charting artist said the slew of collabs he has recorded with some of the biggest names in Jamaican music, as well as newbies in the industry, has now seen him being given the moniker “collab king” by his musical peers.
“Wha day dem change mi name, nuh to di “collab king. Collab king, dem a seh… An mi have some upcoming yute – maybe about 20 or 30 a dem. Some a dem mi not even memba dem name, but mi give dem a strength…,” Capleton told DJ Bones and his co-host K’Shema Francis-Pitt.
A few days ago, following his performance at Rebel Salute, Capleton had revealed that he was working on an album but said it had not been given a title as yet, as it was still incomplete.
“You know, wi nuh disclose that yet. Caw yuh neva can tell. Yuh have so much tracks and more time will always like give di album a name offa a particular track on the album. But, it’s in the making… wi just want di people know I a work pon it. Wi know seh it’s long overdue an di people need it but, as mi seh, mi have a million singles out deh too,” Capleton explained.
According to Capleton, the major Dancehall and Reggae musicians on his list included Beres Hammond; his longtime friend Sizzla Kalonji, Bounty Killer; Morgan Heritage, Ivorian Reggae singer Alpha Blondie, as well as Kabaka Pyramid, and Chronixx.
According to Capleton’s label VP Records, the deejay has “released 22 albums to date” but has also made guest appearances on several other albums. His last two major features were on DJ Khaled’s Khaled Khaled, and God Did albums.
The Islington, St. Mary native’s music has also been sampled by rapper Kanye West in his 2013 song titled I’m A God.
Capleton’s first single was Bumbo Red, which was banned from public radio in Jamaica, due to its sexually explicit lyrics, but became a huge hit on the streets.
In his early Dancehall years, Capleton released a slew of hits for various producers, the biggest of which were Number One Pon the Look Good Chart and Nuh Lotion Man.
His compilation album Capleton Gold which was released in 1991, consisted of some of these early recordings. He also appeared on several split albums, among them Double Trouble, which was shared with General Levy in 1992.
In 1992, Capleton meandered his way into conscious music, when he recorded the hit Alms House. He subsequently released an album of the same name in 1993, which included singles such as Matie a Dead, Unnu No Hear, and Make Hay.
In the early to the mid-1990s, Capleton scored several other hits, among them Everybody Needs Somebody, Cold Blooded Murderer, and Buggering, all of which appeared on the 1994 album titled Good So. It was around this point that he converted to Rastafari.
He released the album One Mission in 1999, followed by his acclaimed More Fire, which contained songs such as Jah Jah City, Hunt You, and Good in Her Clothes.
His 2002 album Still Blazin’ was nominated for the Best Reggae Album at the 45th Grammy Awards. That album consisted of hits such as Cooyah Cooyah, Red Red Red, and Caan Tan Yah.
His last album was the 15-track I-Ternal Fire (2010), which carried songs such as Call I, Long Way, 400 Years and the smash hit That Day Will Come. Iconic producers such as Clive Hunt, Shane Brown and Bobby ‘Bobby Digital’ Dixon had all contributed to that project.