Capleton Offers Advice To Dancehall Artists Being Wooed By His Former Label Def Jam
Reggae/Dancehall superstar Capleton has provided some sage advice for upcoming Jamaican artists, who are purportedly being wooed by Def Jam.
Following his performance at Rebel Salute, the More Fire artist, who is a former Def Jam signee, was asked to give advice to future signees of the American record company, and he reeled out his words of wisdom.
“Just know what you want and just be yourself. Don’t let nobody convert yuh and change yuh. Even if you a cross over musically, yuh nuh haffi cross over physically as the person… So just be yourself,” said Capleton, in a video clip he uploaded to his YouTube channel.
“Cause I was there, yuh know, an dem realise seh I am not one a dem kinda hype person deh weh love fi floss and – worse I don’t even drink so you know how dah suppm deh guh yuh know,” the St. Mary native added.
Capleton, whose given name is Clifton Bailey, was signed to Manhattan-based Def Jam in the mid-1990s, where he released two albums. His first was Prophecy, which went on to peak at No. 65 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart in 1995, and I-Testament, back in 1997.
According to Capleton, despite his expectations not being fully met while at Def Jam, he was still grateful for how things turned out for him.
“Choo is a hundred percent Hip Hop company, dem neva know how fi gi mi dah market deh through di grass root, so das why wi did even end up back a VP. But as mi seh, anything fi di music,” the Billboard-charting deejay added.
Capleton returned to Reggae label VP Records for his 2000 album, More Fire. VP also released his 2002 album Still Blazin’ which 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.
“Wi give thanks and big up Def Jam same way becaw a dem really cross mi ova. Becaw dem put out a song we be a household (song) in America, weh even di kids in America sing,” Capleton continued, referencing the Billboard-charting Tour remix, which peaked at No. 57 on the Hot 100 Chart in 1995.
In January 2010, Capleton told The Sunday Gleaner that the hip-hop remix of Tour had attracted the attention of major US radio stations such as Hot 97, as well as several music labels.
He also explained that Def Jam owned the rights to Slick Rick’s Children’s Story, which was sampled in the remix, and as a consequence, he decided to work with that label as opposed to the others.
The success of the Tour remix also led the large US-based, music-driven cable television stations, such as BET and MTV, to make trips to Kingston and St Andrew, he had explained.
Capleton had also pointed out that the Tour remix brought the song, which was already a massive hit in Jamaica on the original dancehall rhythm, to a wider international audience.
Also, in an April 2017 interview, Capleton had said that when he signed with Def Jam Recordings in the 1990s, he was sent to a vocal coach, but that the Cuban coach had no idea what to do with his voice.
“The lady doing the voice training was trying to figure out who I sounded like but she couldn’t come up with no one! When she was playing the keyboard she said: ‘No, this voice is not normal!’ It’s just a special voice and I have to give thanks,” he had explained.
His other hits while at Def Jam were the Hip Hop remixes of Wings of The Morning, which peaked at No. 79 on the Hot 100 Chart, and Heathen Rage, which peaked at No. 79 on the R&B Hip Hop Songs Chart.