Busy Signal X Parlour Magazine

Busy recently sat down with Parlour Magazine to talk about his new album.

The first time I heard Busy Signal’s “Tic Toc,” set to a mash-up of deep house and hipster hop with a tinge of old school Miami freestyle beats (courtesy of producer Sean “SSMG” Scott) I lost my shit. Busy’s throaty vocals commanding me to “wine up, show me what you have in you,” and the signature “hey-hey!” in a dancehall beat behind a high-pitched female chanting “tic tic tic tic toc…toc toc toc toc tic” had me jumping up and down in my living room. I thought, if this is where dancehall is going, I’m quitting my job, packing up my belongings and going along for the ride. I chatted with Busy about dancehall’s new era and why his music is so fresh. Peep what the young MC had to say about the state of Jamaica and why he can’t leave the ladies alone after the jump.

Dancehall is not unique in creating a cauldron of varied sounds. The term “anything goes” reigns supreme these days across musical genres. However, its advantage has always been the ability to play the field while still maintaining the key elements of di dance, allowing it to evolve without the need to re-establish itself. But if ever we could spot a new age of dancehall, the time would be now. The beats and vocals are faster, the lyrics are much darker—often depicting the kind of strife we would rather associate with New York City’s youth than Kingston’s—and the sex addled calls and gun talk of mega stars like Beenie Man and Bounty Killer have been replaced by Munga’s thug love and Mavado’s gangster ballads.

Every movement seeks a leader, and it seems with Busy Signal’s sophomore album Loaded (released September 23 on VP records)—a record chock full of fresh beats from Jamaica’s young producers, lyrical chops and inventiveness that keep listener’s begging for more (see “Knocking at Your Door,” “These are the Days,” “Hustle Hard”)—the people have chosen wisely.

Full interview available at Parlour Magazine.