Donovan Germain Says He Steered Agent Sasco Away From Clashing With Vybz Kartel, Focused On Long-Term Career
This summer marks 25 years since Agent Sasco began his Dancehall career, a milestone influenced by legendary music producer Donovan Germain, who had managed Sasco during his formative years.
Germain revealed that he actively prevented Sasco (formerly Assassin) from becoming a “clash artist” and had deliberately stopped taking shows for him if Vybz Kartel, the other rising star at the time, was also booked to perform. The producer, known for shaping many reggae and dancehall stars, said he was focused on building Sasco for a long-lasting career.
“Him and Vybz Kartel were always on shows together inno. At one point, they wanted anywhere Vybz Kartel deh, Assassin was but we put an end to that because we didn’t want to make Assassin a clash artist,” he told DancehallMag. “We put an end to that because we wanted him to have his own career and not just seen as a clash artist.”
“I realized every time Assasin on a show, Vybz Kartel deh pon the same show too and then I realized they wanted clashes every single time, so I deliberately stopped taking shows for him if Kartel was on it. A my artist so I have to do what’s best for him,” Germain added.
Germain elaborated on his reasoning behind the move, stating, “There is no value in clashing. I wanted to build an artist so that we could be having this very same conversation 25 years later.”
“If he became a clash artist and people say him lose he would have lost credibility. That is not positive to build a career for an artist. That’s just good for the promoter and the people at the show weh come fi watch a clash but to build an artist to build a career that will last 25 years you have to be meticulous about that artist.”
According to Agent Sasco himself, clashing wasn’t what he wanted for his career either. He saw clashes as divisive and something that could negatively impact an artist’s career trajectory, citing Buju Banton as a successful artist who avoided clashes. “The clash can be — when done right — it’s very entertaining and whatever, but as we know — and we see so many times, it becomes a disgusting display,” he told The Star in 2017.
“[Bounty] Killer and Beenie [Man], it work for them. That’s them. But dah man [Buju] yah have dancehall, him have reggae and him nah clash wid nobody. Besides, when you clash, you divide the audience. Mi guh through the Killa dem and Beenie situation and all of what that was about an’ ting,” he said. Agent Sasco added that when he was in high school, “Nuff time we cuss ‘bout Killa and Beenie … so mi know ‘bout the separation of the audience.”
He noted that he was offered a chance to do a clash with Kartel, “without losing the friendship between the deejays, while they simultaneously earned money.” However, he declined and released the song, We A Bad From, which he said wasn’t a diss track.
“Him [Kartel] nah wait fi put my signature pon di ting and him juss get the ball rolling,” he said, referring to Badda Dan Dem (We No Care Whe Yu a Bad From), the single Kartel did afterward that some saw as a response.
25 Years In Dancehall
To celebrate his 25 years in music, Sasco has announced a December concert titled “Grateful.”
In a recent Instagram post, he pointed out that it was Spragga Benz who had introduced him to Germain at Penthouse Recording Studio, a gesture he said “basically signaled the start of my professional journey as an artist, and this summer makes it 25 years.”
“I invite you to join me in celebrating that and all else that we each have to be grateful for, on December 29, literally on the banks of the Hope River. ‘How could I not be grateful?’” he continued.
Reflecting on Sasco’s career, Germain praised his work ethic and professionalism. “He is one of the best lyricists undoubtedly, without apology mi say that,” he said.
“He wanted to be a deejay but one of the things I told him when he came to Penthouse, I told him you can be a deejay but you have to finish school first which we accommodated in that situation and he did finish school and we started to record him and then we took him on a tour with Buju Banton and from there so him just grow from strength to strength,” the producer recalled.
Germain said he did not remember all the details about the tour vividly but reasoned that such early exposure groomed Sasco for what life was like on the road.
“He learned what touring was all about as he was opening for Buju on that US tour . He was doing fi him own songs weh him did a record but I cannot remember all a dem,” Germain noted.
Germain said Sasco displayed the right attitude from the very beginning which he thinks contributed to and continues to contribute to his success 25 years later.
“The fact that he was willing to go back to school meant a lot to me because he showed me that he really wanted to get his education,” he told DancehallMag.
“The more educated the artist is dem easier to work with them because they are able to rationalize what is being discussed and what they want to do and what they don’t want to do, they can better understand so it’s a big difference when artists can rationalize.”
“Work ethic? Him have it. You no see how him very professional now, that comes from foundation. Inno. Him go out and him know what it is to go out on tour and you know say the bus going to leave at 1 0 clock, you better be on the bus at 1’ o clock or the bus going to leave you, you have to get to the venue because if the show going to start at 9 o clock, it’s going to start at 9 0 clock, so he was exposed early to those things that has contributed to the 25 years and the longevity of him being around, exposure gave him all of that,” Germain added.
Sasco has released four studio albums to date, Infiltration (2005), and Gully Sit’n (2007), on VP records before his two follow-ups Theory of Reggaetivity (2016), Germaica Digital (Europe) and Hope River (2018) on his own Diamond Studios record label. In 2020, he released a five-track EP, Sasco Vs Assassin.