Lieutenant Stitchie Hails King Jammy For Kickstarting His Dancehall Career
Dancehall Governor Lieutenant Stitchie has expressed gratitude to Lloyd ‘King Jammy’ James for his role in kickstarting his illustrious Dancehall career back in the 1980s.
Stitchie, who is working on his 23rd album, shared images of himself along with the veteran producer and his son John John, on his Instagram page and gave an update on the album on which he has been working for more than a year.
“Doing some work for my New Album with my original Producer King Jammys and his son John, John in Waterhouse, King Jammys introduced me to the World, forever grateful KING!” he noted, as he hailed the producer under whose label he recorded his first album Wear Yuh Size in 1987, (which was also named Great Ambition by Jammys, for the overseas market).
Stitchie returned to Jamaica in September 2021 to fully take on the creation of the album, which he had announced in May of that year. For the remainder of the year, the award-winning deejay had engaged in copious amounts of work at studios in his original base Spanish Town, and also did the media rounds.
The Dress to Impress artiste had also had also enlisted singer and Grammy-nominated musician, Benjy Myaz to serve as composer, arranger and producer, on the album, which from all indications will feature stringed instruments used in orchestras, such as cellos and violins and Rastafarian Congo drums.
Myaz, with an extensive track record in production and arrangement, was among the experts who worked with the late producer Bobby Digital on Sizzla’s internationally acclaimed album, Da Real Thing, and Capleton’s Reign of Fire. The Montego Bay native is also a player of seven musical instruments.
In February 2022, in giving an update on the album, Stitchie had announced that he was being very fastidious in the creation of the album and was treating the process akin to how a goldsmith smelts gold ore to perfection.
The GC Foster College graduate had showed off images of himself at Supa Mixe Studio, and others with musicians at various studios in Kingston and St Catherine, among them Tuff Gong, and Mixing Lab, who were painstakingly going through the sessions with him.
The Masterclass artist had also displayed images of pianist Otty, Reggae Grammy Award winning Engineer, Nigel Burrell hard at work.
Over at Tuff Gong, Stitchie had also showed musician Jabari in a photo in he described as “clinically laying down the Congos on one track of the New Project” and another with Engineer Roland McDermott which the deejay described as “creatively working”.
He also showed off Tuff Gong Studio musicians Okiel and Oshane collaborating on the Brass Instruments, while at the Mixing Lab Studio he highlighted studio engineer Fatman and his full band.
Stitchie’s upcoming album, in coming on the heels of his award-winning Masterclass album, which was co-produced by Gramps Morgan, and released in October 2019. That album had comprised 17 tracks and featured collaborations with secular artistes such as Agent Sasco, Fantan Mojah, Lukie D and Ricky Stereo.
Masterclass had also earned the former Physical Education teacher the Caribbean Afro Music Award’s Best Reggae Album of the year Award and was described by him, as his “best work ever”.
The Tivoli Gardens High School old boy released his first Gospel Reggae album, To God Be the Glory, back in 1999. In 2002, he won the ‘Outstanding Male Reggae Vocal Performance of the Year’ award at the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards.
Despite his discography being very extensive, Stitchie’s most memorable track is the hit Wear Yuh Size, about a fictional love interest who forced her feet into a tiny pair of shoes and ended up being a public laughing stock in Cross Roads.
Among his other big hits are Romance, Natty Dread, Hot Like the Sun, Broad Hips, and Woman Fe Get Lyrics.
In his secular years in Dancehall, Stitchie worked with several of Jamaica’s best producers, among them Steelie and Cleevie, Bobby Digital, Danny Browne, Donovan Germaine and riddim twins Sly and Robbie.