Richie Loop finds new groove

Caribbean pop artiste Richie Loop is revelling in his success since transitioning to the European market, while making his mark in the electronic dance music (EDM) and shatta dancehall genres.

"[I] love dancehall, it's my roots; but I wasn't gonna fight for a slot in dancehall, because you know the competition within the space. I also realised that you never needed to be fighting in a small pond for feeding when there's a big sea," the My Cup artiste told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"So I took some time to learn about music itself and not just the love of it; I wanted to know how money is made. So I started doing EDM to understand the business of the music because EDM is contrast, percentage and master splits, among several other elements which make it more marketable universally. And I never heard about these things in dancehall. For me, music is bigger than just fighting, because you can't take all di food from di table," he added.

Forming a deeper love for EDM through research and making his sound more diverse in the area, he slowly drifted off the local scenes musically, but landed in a space where he said his sound felt more appreciated and accepted.

"Shatta dancehall is easy because it's a sound they (music lovers) already recognised and understand. They don't fully understand the Jamaican sound, but for shatta, is like a '90s dancehall mix with new stuff. For EDM, I have a different temperament and sound there, so people like it because it's more of an aggressive, sergeant-type a vibe ... they like dat aggressiveness," he said.

Richie Loop, who is also a music producer and MC, said he has mastered shatta dancehall within that space and is now fully immersed in club music, Afrobeat and reggaeton.

"What drew me to this space, though, is just that I saw it as something I could do; and there were people from our side like [dancehall artiste] Leftside, as the first person who was doing this genre of music and I thought it was cool. You're in your own lane, your own space, and that's a good place to be because yuh can do your own thing in your own style and create your own vibe; and I've done tons of singles and collabs in that genre," he said.

The Clarendon native said that in his frequent visits to events in Jamaica, he mostly observes the way the music is being treated and received, which could do better internationally with more "structure".

"With EDM, it has a business template already. Dancehall has been in for a minute and we still can't find a business template and find a way to make it work. There's no pipeline here, and if there is, it's gonna stop in someone's yard, and that person is gonna charge yuh an arm and a leg before yuh can go nowhere. Dancehall is mouth talk and badness, it's not business," he opined.