3 weeks ago
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Rastafarian reggae legend Capleton had major “full joy” moments at this year’s Reggae Land Festival held at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in Buckinghamshire, England. The UK festival, which is promoted as a “massive celebration of reggae music and Caribbean culture”, unfolded over two days — Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3.
“It was historic, because of the sold-out attendance ... it was mostly white people and the acceptance of the culture was very high. I really full joy myself and the graphics were amazing. Big up the other artistes as well. I will return to Jamaica on Monday ... so I will be home for Independence celebrations,” Capleton told The Gleaner in an interview Sunday morning.
He took time to share what Independence means to him and his fondest memories of the celebration while growing up.
“Well ... at Independence time, as a child I really enjoyed the Festival songs and I used to look forward to watching it on television. My mother was always around at that time and we had a very close family unit and we would always gather together. That was the time when Jamaica had strong family values,” said Clifton ‘Capleton’ Bailey.
He added, “Independence to me means breaking away from our colonial past and standing on our own systems and values as a sovereign nation. Also, I normally keep my show ‘A St Mary Mi Come From’ at that time to honour the culture.”
300 MILLION STREAMS
Capleton, who was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003 for his album, Still Blazing, has been making headlines recently for racking up millions of streams — 300 million to be precise — for his music which has crossed social, cultural and ethnic barriers. Quizzed as to what exactly 300 million streams means in simple layman’s term, King Shango, as he is called, sought to break it down.
“This number is divided into my solo songs as well as the collaborations that I have done, and it’s all over time. This number is on Spotify, which is the world’s largest music streaming platform. This means our music can be accessed and listened to from anywhere in the world and available to over 600 million users on Spotify,” the David House producer explained.
He pointed out that high streaming numbers do not necessarily equate with musical impact or earning potential.
“There are artistes like Bob Marley who have more streams than I do and artistes with less streams than me because their hits were in the era before streaming. However, their impact on reggae music might be greater than mine. Additionally, these days, artistes can have a million streams of a song and not make that much because of the payout ratio. But, if the artiste sold a million copies of a song, you could make over a million dollars. So earning from streaming alone is not sustainable,” the Jah Jah City singer said.
By all appearances, Capleton’s music has placed him in an elite league of artistes and the reason for this, he said, was quite simple.
“I make clean, timeless music that can be relevant in any decade. I make music of real-life occurrences and not fantasy, so people worldwide can relate, and I make music to uplift people and to acknowledge the Almighty,” Capleton said.
And, how does Capleton feel about reaching this 300 million-streams milestone?
“Well, there is much more work to be done, more music to make, and I am doing Jah’s work so I don’t really focus on what I have accomplished but what is to come.”
English (US) ·