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One of the brightest stars in the dancehall firmament Busy Signal gained his stage name as a young man because he was always too busy to answer his cell ’phone. Little has changed… he has been in constant demand ever since and his ‘phone is now constantly engaged with worldwide offers of work.
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| Date Added: Mar 11, 2014, Date Updated: Mar 17, 2014 Copyright (C) 2024 Dub Store Sound Inc. |
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Born Glendale Gordon on 24th January 1979 (he later changed his name to Reanno Gordon) this dance hall phenomenon was raised with three brothers and one sister in the country parish of St. Ann where he attended Brown's Town Comprehensive High School. On relocating to Spanish Town and Kingston he lived in the Papine, Standpipe and Tivoli Gardens areas. His mother's strong Christian influence not only kept him on the straight and narrow but also introduced the young man to music and, as the family sang hymns at church services, Reanno occasionally sang his own words to the hymns.
One of the new breed of Jamaican performers Busy Signal assiduously assimilated the music from the towering Jamaican deejay school and, for as long as he can recall, his intention was to be a top entertainer. While still at school he spent his lunch money on cassette tapes rather than food and would sneak out of the house at night to listen to top sound systems including Bass Odyssey and Renaissance. From the outset of his career he reflected the influences of everyone and everything and melded and blended them all into one totally original whole. As well as local artists he listened to American stars including Jay-Z, Eminem, Madonna and Whitney Houston and even gave serious consideration to Luciano Pavarotti's operatic stylings.
"Opera is not my music but I listen to its sound: the way the voice projects in opera it can shatter glass... that is vocal strength so I listen to that a lot." Busy Signal
Busy Signal voiced dub plates for Renaissance and Killamanjaro and was inevitably drawn deeper and deeper into the world of Kingston's sound systems. Fatta from Renaissance proved particularly helpful to the young artist when he began recording commercially as Busy Signal later recalled: "Getting into the studio to do my first recording I linked up with Fatta, one of the engineers from Renaissance, then it was just on the rise from there. I was trying to learn, trying to get it in the right context, melody, the verses, trying to know what is a hook, the importance of breath control, metaphor and word play, just trying to get better towards what I want to be in life." His debut recording on Renaissance's popular 'Tunda Clap' rhythm, entitled 'Shake It Fast', introduced Busy Signal's unique approach to the record buying public and in 2005 he hit the heights with 'Not Going Down' and the self produced 'Step Out' singles. The 'Step Out' album was released on Greensleeves Records the following year. He now began to work with the legendary Bounty Killer and, after joining the Alliance, Busy Signal became acquainted with a much wider audience at massive Jamaican stage shows such as Sting and Reggae Sumfest. The 2008 long playing release 'Loaded' on VP Records featured the hits 'Tic Toc', rated Number Seventy in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Singles of 2008, and the telling 'These Are The Days' compounded and confirmed Busy Signal's reputation as one of Jamaica's foremost dancehall deejays.
During 2009 Busy Signal's eclectic approach provided further hit singles including updates of two massive worldwide hits from 1985: 'Sweet Love (Night Shift)' based around The Commodores' 'Night Shift' and 'One More Night' which versioned former Genesis drummer Phil Collins' track of the same name.
An appearance in combination with Major Lazer on the title track of No Doubt's critically acclaimed and massively successful 'Push and Shove' album in 2012 helped to consolidate his international standing. Never forgetting his roots one of the many highlights of Busy Signal's 'D.O.B.' album released in 2010, 'Hi Grade', was a paean to herb delivered over an almighty cut of Winston Riley's evergreen 'Stalag 17' rhythm produced by Shane Brown.
After the world wide acceptance of USA based rap and hip hop the Jamaican originators no longer needed to explain or justify their music; the fight for acceptance for their art had been fought and won by the deejay elders. A new younger generation of artists, including Busy Signal, were able to get down to business immediately, confident and assured that their approach was, by now, part of an established tradition. Their craft was now an internationally recognised and acknowledged art form and "Busy Signal right now stands as the most diverse DJ in Jamaica". A bright future is assured for this multi talented, many faceted originator... |
| Mar 11, 2014 (Mar 17, 2014 Update) Text by Harry Hawks
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