Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter

Edley Shine, formerly of the duo Born Jamericans. - Contributed

You may not know the names Edley Shine and Norman 'Mr. Notch' Howell, but if you are a child of the '80s, you should recognise the name Born Jamericans. With their songs Sweet Honey, Yardcore and Cease and Seckle, the singer Howell and deejay Shine made an impact on youngsters across the globe and were among the first to seamlessly fuse rap and dancehall. The duo split soon after their sophomore album Yardcore bombed and both went on to pursue solo careers. The Sunday Gleaner spoke with the former Born Jamericans deejay Edley Shine about their hits, disappointments and the duo's internal struggle.

Sunday Gleaner (SG): Born Jamericans were recognised internationally, but in the Jamaican dancehalls the group didn't enjoy as much popularity. Why do you think that was so?

Edley Shine (ES): I feel like if we came out right now in Jamaica we would be big there, but in 1993 it was a different place. I haven't been to JA in 10 years, but I see the DVDs andwhat I see is a whole new attitude there now. I see German dancehall artistes, French dancehall artiste, Japanese dancehall queens. But in '93, two American kids doing hip hop and reggae was like so outer space to the dancehall. Funny thing is, when we first got the deal, we went to Jamaica to record and start our thing, but a lot of producers didn't really wanna voice us or didn't trust us to get paid so they wanted to deal with the label for the money. So I said to myself 'a foreign we live, we gonna use it to our advantage'. That's why the first album was called Kids from Foreign.

Born Jamericans

SG: Since your debut album was called 'Kids From Foreign', do you think you trapped yourselves into that mould of being seen as 'outsiders' to dancehall music?

ES: I came up with the title for both Born Jamericans albums. Kids From Foreign was just letting the music business and dancehall community know what we were all about - two kids raised by Jamaican immigrants embracing their culture and expressing through hip hop and dancehall two music art forms that are the same but from different parts of the map. I guess today maybe we would have called it 'Best Of Both Worlds'. We kinda knew already that by mixing old reggae with hip-hop beats we would be alienating ourselves from the dancehall that was going in Jamaica at the time. But to this day, people stop me and say that they never really liked reggae till they listen to us, or that album is a classic because it gave reggae another direction as far as what a reggae hybrid can sound like.

SG: The sophomore album 'Yardcore' didn't do as well as people expected it to. What do you think went wrong?

ES: I think the Yardcore album didn't live up to expectations because of the same reason a lot of things in the music biz falter. You have too much chefs throwing salt in one pot of soup. I think the direction the label wanted us to go with the music was to emphasise the singing side, to crossover; that was expressed to us during the process of making the album. Also, on the business end, the label was going through a lot of transitions as far as distributions went, so our project suffered from that.

SG: At the time, do you think the major labels knew how to properly market dancehall music?

ES: I'mma be straight up; reggae is for Jamaica; it needs to be controlled and marketed by Jamaican people. The record companies are in it if it can turn a profit. Just like if you build a resort with beach, sand and a fully stocked bar they will come and vacation there, same thing with the music. They will support it if it's already functional.

SG: Do you think most labels today know how to properly market dancehall music?

ES: No. Only Jamaica knows how to properly market dancehall. They have it lock down now. No dancehall artiste needs to sign to a major U.S. label. Now it's not necessary; they can make millions right there in Jamaica.

SG: Since you've gone solo, who are some of the people you have worked with?

ES: Well, I've done writing for people. I have worked with Mad Lion over the years, Da Brat, KRS-ONE, just people in my small circle.

SG: How up to date are you with current dancehall music, artistes and trends?

ES: I know everything going on in dancehall right now. I eat, sleep, breathe music. I see every stage show on DVD and keep up with drama from the Internet blogs and stuff.

SG: Have you ever performed in Jamaica?

ES: Back in the day I remember doing Reggae Sunsplash International Night and we did Delano's Revenge one year. I just remember thinking on both of them shows, 'if a bokkle don't fling, I'm good'. And luckily, we never get bokkle.

SG: Who are some of the local acts you would like to work with and why?

ES: As far as producers, I'm willing to voice on riddims. Just link me, we can make it happen. Hmm, I still would like to work with the people I grew up listening to like, Beenie Man, Buju Banton, Bounty, Beres Hammond, Sanchez, Singing Melody and I could go on and on. I like all the new artistes as well. From you're a good songwriter, I would work with you.

SG: What have you been working on lately?

ES: Well I just hosted Unity Sound V.2 Bootleg Series. They are based in Atlanta, Japan and Jamaica. I have been working on my own street album and I'm looking to circulate it around October of this year. It will be entitled Foreign's Finest and Unity Sound will most likely host that as well.