Richard ‘Shams’ Browne Releases ‘Tropical Breeze’ Riddim

Renowned producer, DJ and A&R Richard ‘Shams’ Browne has added another impactful contribution to the reggae space with the release of the Tropical Breeze Riddim under B-Rich Records.

The project, which premiered on April 11 with T.O.K’s track Open Up, also features Shuga’s Ital Love which was released today, and Darkness by F.Y.A.H and Lutan Fyah. The latter will make its debut on April 25.

“My ultimate hope is to revamp a segment in the parties, dance or even on radio where good vibes reggae music can be played. A lot of the stuff that are being produced nowadays are centered around sexual content, or guns and drugs, and I feel like a lot of the newer generation is moving away from the true culture of reggae music. So, I’m really hoping that with this juggling, it can take us back to a time where selectors are playing reggae music intentionally because it will create a vibe in the dance,” Browne said.

Richard Browne, who is an Artiste and Repertoire manager at VP Records, is a member of the Browne family, several of whom have made a major impact on Jamaican music. His father Glen is a respected bassist who has recorded with Burning Spear, Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers and Buju Banton.

In the meantime, he explained how organically each act became a part of his latest offering.

“For T.O.K, we ended up coming up with the idea for the song in Costa Rica while on tour last year. It was voiced when they went back to Jamaica, and I ended up mixing and mastering it this year,” Browne reasoned.

He added: “Regarding the Shuga, she’s always been an artiste that I’ve admired for years and it just so happened that with me being A&R at VP, her project fell on my desk. So, while working on her album, produced by Donovan Germain, for VP, I asked her if she could jump on the juggling just to have more songs for her in the market.”

Browne explained that through a telephone conversation, he and Shuga came to an agreement about which idea sounded the best for the project. It was later voiced at his father Glen’s studio.

As for F.Y.A.H, the process was similar, with Browne noticing early on that a collaboration with Lutan Fyah would be genius because of the closeness in stage names.

“F.Y.A.H is in an album promotion cycle, but again, to keep the algorithm going, the label and I have an agreement where once it’s their artiste and they can have the distribution it wouldn’t be conflicting to have the song come out while they’re having album promotion, ‘cause the album came out the end of February so they’re still kinda pushing songs from the album,” the producer said.

Browne is well-known for other productions such as the Orgasm and Baddis Ting Riddims.

With an extensive career, he is encouraging emerging artistes and producers to be deliberate about educating themselves about the ins and outs of the industry.

“The first thing—and this is also from my experience—is to get your business in order. I missed out on a lot of royalties because I signed up with the Performance Rights Organization and publishing late in my career. So, get your business in order so that when you get that one break out song, you’re not trying to figure out where you have to go for revenue,” he said. “Forget about ego, and be open to constructive criticism because if someone is giving you advice based on their expertise, then you should take it, or at least, consider it.”