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Following a nine-year hiatus from recording music, reggae singer Cen’C Love, daughter of late music icon Bunny Wailer, returns with her drum-and-bass heavy EP, Elephant. The project will be released on October 5, via Glasswork 32.
“I’m fully rested,” the artiste, whose real name is Ngeri Livingston, said. “I’ve been working on the music for this project for a few years. Writing, but mostly producing tracks. I’m a producer before I’m an artiste. I’m a very passionate musician, so it’s important for me to make that statement with any future projects. It’s easy for that to get lost under the hype.”
Some of the tracks on Elephant are Real Life (Habibi), My Room, and The Devil.
Why is the album called Elephant?
“The elephant is a powerful figure in various traditional cultures, as it symbolises strength, wisdom, and good luck. Further, the elephant has a serious memory and memory is my legacy, it is a culmination of my upbringing in the US, my legacy is the Wailers, my love is reggae music ... and plus, mi heavy.” she said, laughing.
Cen’C Love took a long break from the recording side of the music business, and immersed herself in the publishing world as she attempted to regulate the business affairs of her late father, Bunny Wailer, who died in 2021.
Her last commercial release was Heart to Heart, produced by Billboard-charting Rohan ‘Snowcone’ Fuller in 2012.
“The album was done during COVID in 2020, and then my dad got sick. So I rallied around my father. That was my primary focus and then, when he passed, I had to take some time, but I am ready now,” she said.
Livingston now resides in Miami, Florida, her home state. She wears several hats, moonlighting as a director of Solomonic Productions Limited, writing and producing music, and running her own limited liability company, all while home-schooling her two children.
“Florida just happens to be my birthplace. This is the best move I’ve ever made,” she said.
It has been a challenging situation, navigating the circuitous world of music publishing and intellectual property while fighting to keep her father’s incredible music legacy alive.
“It’s been a difficult journey. It was hard on my conscience to deliver my own project while my dad’s business was in a state of disarray. Right now, we have been making great progress, but we’re still dealing with some issues and, as a result of that, I often put my own projects on the back burner. But this project is a gift of love because I really owe it to my fans,” she said.
Livingston is extremely frustrated with ‘inconsistencies’ in the administration of her father’s estate.
“There still hasn’t been a probate ... we are probably a year away from the probate of my father’s will. The first co-executor, Carlton Livingston, applied for probate in 2021, but that process [was stopped] and so the estate is in limbo,”s he said.
The estate’s co-executor Carlton Livingston, Bunny Wailer’s brother, passed away in 2023.
“It’s been four years ... four long years. Daddy worked so hard to own his intellectual property and [forces are] doing everything to undo my father’s hard work, but it won’t happen on my watch. I am working within the law to address some of the issues with the company, Solomonic Production, but the estate business will resolve itself,” she said.
At the time of Bunny Wailer’s death, the directors of the Solomonic Productions Limited were Maxine Stowe, Carlton Livingston (deceased) , Jean Watt (missing since 2020), Abijah Livingston and Ngeri Livingston. As it stands, there are two directors currently on the company’s documents, and Ngeri isn’t one of them, neither is Stowe.
“Since the passing of my father, Bunny Wailer, any changes made to the structure of the company and the passing along of the IP and masters rights were premature,” Cen’C Love said.
She believes that her upcoming EP will help to honour her father’s legacy.
“It’s not that I’m putting my father’s business aside to focus on my music, it’s all part of the work we did. He always drilled into me that I need to have my own label. He was very serious about owning whatever we make and create. So this album is all a part of honouring him. We have more opportunities coming up as it relates to Bunny Wailer’s IP, and we have to present a clear and unified business structure if we are to take full advantage of these opportunities,” she said.
Cen’C Love is known for the radio hit single Casanova from the Love Letter album, and the single, Little More Time.
English (US) ·