Skarra Mucci: The raggamuffin in person is here!

What is the meaning of your name ?

Skarra Mucci is a funny name, no? It was really given to me by Tristan Palmer and Philip Fraser. They believed that my name of Likkle D wasn't futuristic enough. They said "How U gonna call yourself later ? Big D?". So they gave me that name that I didn't really wanted or liked at first, but then it became me. Later on, I gave it a meaning : 

Ska for Ska music

R for Reggae

RA for Raggamuffin

MU for Music

CC from my original name Carvin Carlton

And the I from I&I

You also have that nickname "The Lyric Millionaire"?

Yes, that's the name of my first song, recorded in 1984.

For how long have you been coming and residing in Europe ?

Since 1992, I've been coming here. But I don't really consider any place as my base yet. My papers are from Germany and I pay tax there but I'm always on the road so I don't really live there. I haven't yet decided where I will settle. I really like Italy, Sardinia or Spain.

Can you tell us about your fourth and latest album "Return of the ragamuffin"?

The raggamuffin is here in person! I want to bring back the ragamuffin style in those days when everyone wants to do dancehall. I've grown with this vibes, the ragga, with Burro Banton, John Wayne and others. Yellowman is my biggest icon in the business because he was the one who always tried to give me a chance. Others would push me out of the way but he used to encourage me. Being a ragamuffin also means being independent and not doing what everybody else is doing. So here I am…

In one of your songs, you use a part of "Raggamuffin" by Gregory Isaacs and Dennis Brown, how do you feel about this song?

That not the only song that inspired me but also a lot of songs in that ragamuffin style. But that particular song by Gregory and Dennis has a statement  like "Yo, this is what I'm doing and I'm going to stick to it.  And I'm serious with it and I'm not playing around." Whatever people think, you have to stand up to what you're doing. Sometimes, people are telling me that I should do more dancehall; or get more jiggy or run over the new style Jamaican riddims. But the massive are getting enough of that from JA, so I just do what I think I have to do… And I've done it since 1979!

So how old are you now?

Well that's not so relevant. I'm too young to die and too old to be suffering. The way I go, I will stay young forever!

Well you've celebrated your 33 years in the business. Through which stages have you been before reaching here?

Well in the beginning I was deejaying in some clubs in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Eastern countries, playing some new school music in those days, like Shaggy, Lady saw, Bounty Killer and thing, giving it some hip hop flavours. I sometimes recorded songs also but they weren't really being played. 

Later on I linked with the Ganglord Band in Switzerland and started to jam with them until I became their lead singer. I stayed with them for ten years.  But we had a different idea of progress. After a moment I felt they didn't want to see me get big so I decided to move forward. I linked with some hip hop guys for an album.

After that time, I was the MC of DeeBuzz, one of Germany's top sound systems. They had a great energy and activity. It was a side activity that took me back to Germany, in Mannheim for a while. I've still recorded some songs in those days. Then I left DeeBuzz to concentrate on my career as a singer only.

Coming back to your latest album, what was the concept of it?

It should have been a pure Weedy G album but it was taking time to complete it. So we decided to do a three-producers album with Renegade and Soulforce. It was my first concept-album as I chose the name "Return of the Raggamuffin" before writing the songs.  The songs are not from the present but taken from the past. As I said I wanted it to reflect on the vibe of back in the days. I have to admit that I'm very impressed by the positive feedbacks and critics the album got. I give thanks to all the foundation artists. If you read the booklet of the album you will understand what this album is about. It's about keeping the reggae alive.  

Your flow and voice make me think a lot of Josey Wales, Brigadier Jerry and that style of DJ's…

You know why? In this time when those people were big and Sister Nancy was bussing, I was living in their area in Kingston. And I used to go to their dances. Sometimes I used to get a grab of the mike. I wasn't too young but they would look me from up and mostly they wouldn't give me the mike. So when Yellowman was there, he used to pass me the mike, and I noticed that no-one wanted to voice after him in the dance, so I used to go for it and do my thing!

Who are your favorite singers then?

Well they're so many to mention. But I really respect Delroy Wilson. He can sing like no one else. I have a version of the Movie Star song on the album and some people consider it as the best one of the album. I do take a lot of inspirations from singers. I'm also known for writing verses of my own and using choruses from the foundation. On the song "Steppin Out", I'm using a part of a song from Rita Marley: "Stepping out a Babylon one by one, stepping inna Zion…" This is a form of appreciation to the legacy that those artists have left behind. And a way of reviving a tune that maybe doesn't get airplay anymore. Finally the artist can even collect some royalties from the new song now and then. I'm proud to be a part of that movement. I sometimes do a few different projects, but my main focus is on reviving the old-school. To be honest, you can't really make that many new riddims. Everything has been played in whatever music. There are not so many notes in the keys.