Marvin Sparks

This is just a small section of a forthcoming reasoning I had with UK reggae legend, Maxi Priest. We spoke on a range of things including his time, the impact and importance of the world-renowned Saxon Sound. They're foundation to what many have unknowingly carried on in various MC-based scenes in England. Check out what he had to say below. Marvin Sparks: I've heard so much about Saxon Sound. To me, I don't feel like people understand how big and the impact Saxon Sound had, and still have especially when considering the popularisation of the fast-chat style. What was it like being part of it? Could you sense what you were doing was special or were you just going along with the vibe? Maxi Priest: Everything at that time was special. There wasn't a road map of what to do. You have to also imagine the climate at that time. We were cutting through racism. Just walking the streets, you had to walk with a crowd of people. Skinheads, greasers, NF's… All of these di...

Member of the Damian and Stephen Marley-led Ghetto Youths International, Christopher Ellis headlines London's famous Jazz Café for the second time this Saturday (28th September) following a sell-out last year on the birthday of his late great, father, rocksteady icon Alton Ellis . Sidenote: Jazz Café is the last venue his father performed. Marvin Sparks caught up with south Londoner, Christopher Ellis ( @EllisMuzicChild ), in a west London hotel lobby to talk challenges making a name as a singer in his own right, choosing authentic reggae despite its lack of pop chart presence in UK, disappointing reaction to last single and learning from the other Ghetto Youths members. Marvin Sparks: Was music something you always wanted to do? Christopher Ellis: I always imagined myself as a singer from ever since I could remember. I used to tell my school teachers that I don't have to do the work because I'm going to be a singer [laughs]. I was always a clever boy in class, b...

Pre-carnival on Monday I ventured down to legendary radio station Rinse FM. The Heatwave crew ran up in the station armed with record boxes ( Serato loaded on MacBook) and took control of the breakfast show. Essential carnival warm-up tunes, carnival top ten and an interview with Jamaican group TOK's Bay-C (the dude with the deep voice). The latter is where I came in as the "dancehall expert" (their words not mine (but they're definitely true)). We spoke about T.O.K.'s (Touch of Klass) beginnings, appeal in their biggest market Japan, dancehall in Japan and Africa, importance of touring with declining record sales, why crossing over is not a priority, then similarities between UK and JA (chatting on sound system and crews). First time interviewing live on radio. Went alright still. Listen below. Furthermore, here are some TOK songs you will probably know: "Gal Yuh Ah Lead"  (this would have charted well if it wasn't for external campaigns) ...

So, as some of you will know, I interviewed grime godfather back in February this year from American website LargeUp.com (child of Questlove's OkayPlayer) about his reggae and dancehall foundations. You can read that here . Today, as Wiley will be announced as UK's #1 single this week, I thought "Let me release a little bit more from that interview".  I like this because he recalls classic songs that stood out when attending family parties as a youngster prior to the soca-fused chart-topping single "Heatwave". It also leads neatly into next bashment-fused single " Ninja " which will feature Sneakbo, whom he speaks of highly in this interview. Please note, this is before Drake mentioned liking Sneakbo's dancehall vibe. Marvin Sparks: Do you remember your first time on the mic? Wiley: "Yeah! I can remember just being at home with my dad and he’s got that riddim [beatboxes Sleng Teng riddim then imitates a typical ‘80s dancehall toastin...

This came about so mad. Like, a week after the debate on whether grime is a sub-genre of hip hop or a reflection of London influences including Jamaica, the opportunity to speak with grime's Godfather arose. More than just talking to a legend, it was an opportunity to speak in great detail about his love for dancehall and reggae - something I don't recall him ever doing before. I think he enjoyed the interview a lot. There's more to forward from the interview in different way so stay tuned. There are so many funny moments too. Big up Wiley and Large Up dot com. That is one of the best sites on the net for dancehall and reggae stuff, based in America. They are a channel on big American website Okayplayer. Check them out here Wiley is often called the Godfather of the UK’s vibrant grime scene. Having burst on the scene as a member of garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel, the prolific MC has been considered among the best UK wordsmiths for over ten years. He’s been involved in cou...

On Tuesday, I popped down to another one of the top pirate's, Deja Vu to have a chat about all things dancehall with the general, Joe Grime. He says he appreciates my opinion which is cool. We speak about the bubbling UK dancehall scene (one's to watch, improvements, evolution of sound systems etc.), dancehall's impact on mainstream pop world, effect incarceration of elite entertainers such as Vybz Kartel and recent arrest of Elephant Man has on the music, then predictions for 2012. Interesting conversation + banging tunes. The Bashment Show 31/01/12 - Dancehall Debate with Marvin Sparks by Joegrime on Mixcloud

A few of you may remember the big heavyweight exclusive interview I dropped where J. Cole surprisingly said he'd like to work with grime heavyweight MC, P Money. Sparked off a big wave of discussion in the grime scene. Here's another J. Cole interview I did way before the album came out. I'm a big fan of J. Cole. Damn near stan levels so I ask questions based on a bunch of his lyrics. Lyrics I quote are: On 'Farewell' he says he would go back to his younger days "Let me relive my younger days just once again... my childhood, now I'm blanking out they were truly my best days..." so I ask about growing up and how experiences shaped his life and lyrics. First fell in love with hip hop 'Can I Live' he says "Am I living to get paid or slave for a wage all week/ I can't do no 9-to-5, told my mom sorry" mums reaction to becoming a rapper over his law degree 'Dollar and a Dream' "People say I'm the future but yet I...

Big Ship sailing! If you don't know the name, you may have skanked to his riddims/songs. Kartel "Bicycle", "Come Breed Me", MR. Vegas "Gallis", Busy Signal "Stamma", Mavado "Hope & Pray", "House Cleaning" , "Weh Dem A Do", "Stulla" + "Peppa" and many more. This is the radio edit. Longer version soon The Wrap Up’s Marvin Sparks ventures down to the Big Ship studios in Kingston, Jamaica to speak with Stephen McGregor about kick-starting Mavado's international career whilst still in high school, working with Estelle, Ne-Yo and much more... Dubbed "Di Genius" for his understanding and ability to produce music from a young age, McGregor has been creating music for over a decade despite only being 21 years old. Although he is better known for producing hits, he started out in the booth recording songs like ‘School Done Rule’ at the tender age of 9. As the son of the legendary...

18 year-old Stephen Lawrence was murdered in an alleged racially motivated attack at a bus stop 18 years ago on 22nd April 1993. Although no one has ever been found guilty of the murder, he didn't die in vain. Marvin Sparks speaks to UK rapper Ty on the impact of his death, his parents fight to bring exposure, compares then with now on race relations in UK, police treatment, the role the media played and why Stephen Lawrence's legacy is important to all of our history.

Alright so you may have seen the last post where I posted links to a bunch of posts that I've done recently, and you may have thought "So where the interviews at?" You most probably weren't thinking that at all but it makes me feel better to think you did. But anyways, I digress, back on track: I have done about 5 interviews in the past 6 weeks. I'll be rolling them out in due course. The one I'm most proud of however is one that I did for Soul Culture. Return To Classics is a series I've thought about for a while. The Soul Culture execution has been so high, extremely high but I really wanted to get into it. We had a team meeting about potential ideas and albums for Return To Classics was one of the topics. Chris Williams raised the bar to some extreme levels interviewing people involved in making the albums. I randomly brought up Kandi and The Writings On The Wall as an idea in conversation. Next thing I know *BlackBerry Message* "Would you be inter...

Marvin Sparks recently spoke with Mavado about his new direction, musically, how success has changed his life, dealing with negative press, his charity giving back to his community and working with Jay-Z, exclusively for The Wrap Up Pic courtesy of Neil Raja . SICK Photographer yeah. http://www.mtv.co.uk/music/urban/253312-mavado-the-interview Catch a little review of the December show there too. As you know I caught up with the Gaza general Vybz Kartel in December also. There was a little confusion over who worked with Jay-Z for the Blueprint 3. I spoke with both artists to sort out who it really was. Vybz Kartel spoke about the Gully vs Gaza feud being blown out of proportion.

First things first, if you haven't read the two previous parts of the Kartel interview (one of the only interviews he has ever done outside of Jamaican press), check http://www.mtv.co.uk/music/urban/249750-vybz-kartel-the-interview-part-1 . He talks success of Clarks, Major Lazer 'Pon Di Floor' collaboration, getting his work ethic from his father and writing for Bounty Killer. Part few (2) is about reinvention, I asked if he borrowed Mavado's style, about making x-rated songs when he has to make clean ones, he gives an exclusive about both his new album and the plans he has to work with Mavado http://www.mtv.co.uk/music/urban/250984-vybz-kartel-the-interview-part-2 On Thursday I made this post about a podcast by HypeLife.tv comical take on the interview. Now this Anyone that has followed my blog or knows me personally will know I say Aidonia is one of the baddest deejay's in Jamaica. To quote this post "What I will say is Aidonia is currently top 3 dancehall...

Another day, another Kartel post. I know "The sh*t is f**kin' ridicalus" (RZA voice) So if you've been following me on Twitter or read back previous posts you will know that I have been gassed since the day I interviewed Kartel early in December. I labeled it #LicenseToGas on Twitter because I knew I'd get gassed off the response. By the way, gassed doesn't mean I think I'm above it. I'm just overjoyed at the response by other fans. As I've said before, I'm a fan, so to get so much love from fans is great. No one else has done one like this and I feared it would get lost amongst all the Kartel vs Beenie talk + Kartel vs Laing, hence the delay in promotion. No other journalist in UK has ever managed to interview him. Just in case you never knew. Kartel doesn't do interviews with international press more time. Just throwing it out there for those that aren't familiar with dancehall. It's like tracking down Jay-Z in the dancehall world...

Well, it's a Paul Wall bar really (remember him? I actually interviewed him in about '08 for an album that never dropped lol). But this has nothing to do with him. Remember this post where I spoke to Kartel for a straight fan to artist conversation discussing other artists he has problems with? Well, it exploded yesterday. As I had a feeling it would. Hold tight @missjaylouise , told her about the amount I juice I got on the day. She knows. Also 'ang tight my social-net-less bredrins too (Yeah, can you believe they exist in 2011? Who'd have thought it? I remember talking about us flying cars by 2010 from back in 1997. Didn't quite happen, but yeah, people not on social-networks is weird). First off I'm gonna address the Kartel bleaching argument. Listen to Dancehall Hero (This tune is sick!) If you don't get why he bleaches, you don't understand who Kartel is. Listen to what he is saying in this tune. Kartel just wants people to discuss him. That'...

Well, if you've been following either myslef or Kartel on Twitter you would have seen the tweet (copied from Kartel's twitter) @iamthekartel: "#AWOAH RT @MarvinSparks @iamthekartel bless up king. People talking about your interview already. Wait til the rest drops. Oh!" [source] Tweet was after I read discussions about our interview on various dancehall forums. This is the rest... Hear him speak on: Why he hasn't fired a diss back in response to Aidonia's diss records ( Nuh Par Wid and Nuh Tek Chat ) and why there's a problem between them What he thinks of Busy Signal and whether they'll ever work together If we'll hear Vybz Kartel work with producer Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor (build the riddims for Come Breed Me , Bicycle / Mr Officer and many more) and what their problem is Does he have any hate for Bounty Killer His only regret as a dancehall artist Plans to exploit controversy of cake soap and why he uses it And some other stuff...

The second part of the Clarks trilogy is called 'Clarks Again' for a reason, doah? Awoah! Well in case you missed first part, the link is right here . We warmed up with the first part, speaking about the success of Clarks, insight into both his unique style when he broke onto the scene and the creation of Major Lazer 'Pon Di Floor', little background to the members of the ever-changing roster over at Portmore Empire, and he explained his work-ethic In this part we went a bit deeper. As I said, the first part was a warm up. In this we spoke in-depth about the controversy surrounding last year's Ramping Shop. The lawsuit, resulting censorship on radio and why he went on the riddim in the first place. Makes some valid points. Also why he makes raw uncensored tunes even though he has to make a version suitable for radio. For the real dancehall fans we spoke about reinvention and the now controversial Dancehall Hero . Let's be honest, Mavado kind've stole Kartel...

Huh? Whut? Yes, Vybz Kartel Vybz Kartel (@iamthekartel) drop for @MarvinSparks interview @MTVwrapup by MiNameMarvinSparks If you know how much I love dancehall, you can kinda guess how excited I was to do this and bring it to you. If you know how respected your work and avenue have to be + small amount of interviews Kartel (that's the abbreviation, not Vybz) does, you'll understand how special this interview is. I think this is his first ever UK interview (outside of DJ's Robbo Ranx and possibly Young Lion at 1Xtra). His PR said it's the first too, but I couldn't prove beyond reasonable doubt that the now defunct New Nation didn't interview him. Anyone else that did one didn't register on Google. Soz xxx. (So yeah, if you wanna cover dancehall and reggae interviews, holla at me for the BEST/unreachable reggae and dancehall artists: marvin.sparks220@gmail.com ) Vybz Kartel has been one of my favourite deejay's long before the Gully-Gaza feud. From...

Trust, this interview is a lot. I haven't listened/watched every SAS interview but from the ones I have, none are like this Wrote up a feature for Flavour magazine August/September issue (you can read the feature here ). I did the best I could but it is impossible to turn this into a 900 word feature. When I say this interview is REAL please don't take me likely. To quote Mega "Yeah I liked that. Usually I give generic answers but I was just venting on some 2Pac me against the world shit!" Here is the first part of the interview: In the first part of 3 (maayyybe 4 x 10mins) we spoke about meeting Memphis Bleek whilst battle rapping in Marcy Projects in New York a.k.a Jay-Z's former stomping grounds, SAS rejecting a production deal with Kanye West, exclusive on how Kanye stopped them getting a major label deal, and rappers/MCs in the UK not staying true to the artform and rating "success more than talent". @MarvinSparks interviews @MegaSAS and @M...