Kunley McCarthy (Ward21): "It doesn't bother me one bit if it sounds rude and crude!"

What is your first memory in the music? Kunley McCarthy: "I was born in the '70s, and I can't remember that far! But in my children days, I can recall on the music that my Dad and my Uncle were playing in the house: people from the '60s et '70s, like Sam Cooke, Otis Reding, Prince Buster and so forth."

When did you fall in love with dancehall music then? Kunley McCarthy: "When I started listening to my own vibes, I directly fell in love with Dancehall. It was in the '80s… Yellowman was a bit fading in those days, already but I was also listening to Shabba, Ninjaman, Admiral Bailey, Dirtsman, Lt Stitchie, Sister Charmaine and Sister Nancy…" 

Do you remember the first music that you bought with your own money? Kunley McCarthy: "I think that the first CD I bought was Tony Braxton's first album. And then Mary J. Blige 'What's the 411'. I was living in New York at that time, early nineties,  and I bought it through mail order with Columbia House."

Can you give me 5 tunes that would be your selection if you had only 5 tracks to play? Kunley McCarthy: "Supercat 'Under Pressure', Biggie 'Warning', Method Man 'Method Man', Shabba Ranks 'Bedroom Bully'… and the last one is an unreleased one: Marcy Chin 'Ride';  a tune that I'm producing and that will be out in February or March."

When you started doing beats, working at Jammy's, how did you work? Kunley McCarthy: "Me and the crew started working at Jammy's in '97. We didn't start making beats before the next year. Suku made two beats that were quite experimental and didn't really make an impression. And then he did the Bada Bada riddim. It was made in March '98, was released in October and broke big in 1999. It was an all-digital riddim as well. There was almost no live thing in it. We only used the 24-track board to create a sort of feedback in the beat. And also we recorded Mark's voice saying: "Bada bada…", added some flanger and stuff and played it from the MPC, the MPC 2000 I think…" 

As a producer and beat maker, which tools do you work with nowadays?  Kunley McCarthy: "Right now I'm using a MPC Renaissance to lay beats and I use Alesis keybopards to play other stuff. I also use FL Studio but sometimes I simply make beats on Ableton. It all depends on the vibes and the conditions. Like right now, I'm on tour and don't have my MPC Renaissance with me so if I want to create a beat I will just use my laptop and Ableton or FL Studio."

So you work strictly on digital music… What about a reggae riddim, like Creamy Corner that was built by Suku: does it make use of live instruments? Kunley McCarthy: "The bass was live and some of the keys as well, but it was looped and the rest is digital." 

Which job do you prefer from your various activities in the music: writing mad lyrics or building beats? Kunley McCarthy: "None of those… Mixing is what I enjoy the most. Overall creation and bringing out the final product. That's what was in my mind when I stepped into Jammy's. I went to him and asked him to teach me to be a producer. I didn't know I was going to become an artist. I had no intention in becoming an artist. I wanted to be a producer and it's still my favorite job."

You still prefer it to live shows? Kunley McCarthy: "Yes (laughs)."

What about Ward21's other members, what are they focusing on? Kunley McCarthy: "For Suku, his favorite is making beats and production. Mark likes performing a lot; he likes production as well but doesn't do it a lot. He's mainly a business man, he throws parties, organizes Ward21's tours and such."

When it comes to live shows, what is the difference for you to play with a band or on soundtrack? Kunley McCarthy: "It is a very big difference. When you play with a band you have more control of the output that you are giving to an audience and more opportunities to improvise. When you play with a sound system, the track is set and you can't change it. And the riddim can finish whilst you're still busy on your song or improvising. Hence with a band, the riddim can't finish."

You released a new EP called 'Power Surge'. Is it a compilation of tracks or new productions? Kunley McCarthy: "In terms of Ward21, we have a million songs than nobody has ever heard. And we don't normally pick from those songs to make an album. When we got to do a new project, we build new songs, we don't go and pick from those who are already recorded. The only album which was a compilation album was 'Yuh Know How We Roll'. At that time, Greensleeves was in a hurry to release an album and they are the ones who put it together." 

Is it that you don't like to go back to older stuff? Kunley McCarthy: "Well we could always go back to older stuff because within Ward21 we always try to make timeless music, so that it won't sound outdated. When I write, I try not to date the music, so that it wouldn't sound like it's been made in a certain time frame. I write in a way that the music can last."

Why did you release an EP, instead of an album, it's not a usual format for Ward21… Kunley McCarthy: "It was a timing thing. We had a certain date for the release and the time was not enough for a full album."

A new direction on this album is that some tracks have a trap style mixed with dancehall… Is it a new move for you? Kunley McCarthy: "I was paying attention to trap music. Not that I like the trap/hip-hop so much. To me a lot of it is garbage. I mostly can't even understand what those youngsters doing trap/hip-hop are saying.  But I like the beats, the music and the use of the 808 (Roland TR-808). I really love to use the 808 so I decided to make this trap music in a Jamaican Style. I tried to fuse the hip-hop instruments in a dancehall pattern."

The EP is still as rough and hardcore as your previous works. Do you think it's still valid, now that you're over 40, to use so much rough and X-rated language? Or is it meant as fun? Kunley McCarthy: "I don't care. It's my culture and my reality in Jamaica. That's what I live with every single day. My music and my art reflect to the world what I live and the reality that surrounds me every single day.  It doesn't bother me one bit if it sounds rude and crude. I don't play the music for my mum. But my mother understands that it is my bread. And I'm not playing it to my kid. And my son, he understands. So whenever I'm working, he stays away. I'm not going to sugarcoat any day. Because I believe in presenting yourself the real way. If I get up in the morning and drink Earl Grey tea, that's what I'm gonna say. Whether the society like Earl Grey tea or not. I drink Earl Grey tea. So here it is in the song too."

Can you tell us about that song of the new EP, sampling 'Woman Is Like A Shadow' from the Meditations? Kunley McCarthy: "I don't remember what laid to that idea. I think it was just on a day that I was at home and that a neighbor was playing the song in his car. With our song 'Mic Magician' fresh in my mind, I thought that this could make a wicked song. Then Marcy Chin helped me to put the idea together and then we recorded it and there it is! Some people say it's their favorite on the EP."

You're promoting a crew of younger artists, known as the Bada Bada Gang. Who are they? Kunley McCarthy: "Originally it was Ward21. In 2003, in the lyrics from a song we recorded for Christopher Birch at Big Yard Studios, we wrote: "The girls know we as the Bada Bada Gang…", so we later used that term to name our camp. We pick the artists who join it. Originally we had Tifa, Natalie Storm and Timberlee. At present time it is composed of us, plus Marcy Chin, Timberlee and Point O."

Foto: © Kali