Juke Boxx pays tribute to Steelie
PRODUCER Shane C Brown pays his respects to legendary producer Wycliffe ‘Steelie’ Johnson through a musical tribute in the form of a cover of the Boops riddim made popular in the 80’s by Super Cat on the title track.
Inspired by the extensively creative talents of Steely, Shane has gathered a collection of young artistes who live in the legacy of Steelie’s work including dancehall deejay Busy Signal, singer Tarrus Riley, the controversial Lutan Fyah, the energetic Elephant Man and rising artistes Romain Virgo, Timeka Marshall and Karl. The Boops musical tribute combines the best of Steelie’s now classic style with a new sound uniquely Juke Boxx. The Juke Boxx tribute hits radio stations later this week.
“Steelie is among the great producers that have inspired my work, because of his remarkable ability to do both reggae and dancehall,” Shane declared. “His riddim projects were distinctive and timeless with a signature style, as young producers we can learn a lot from Steelie’s massive catalogue,” he continued.
Steelie died on September 1, 2009 at age 47 in a New York hospital while undergoing treatment for diabetes and hypertension-related complications. He was well known and highly respected as a revolutionary producer, who lead the transformation “from roots to dancehall to digital” according to the New York Times. During his career, Steelie worked on countless productions with luminaries such as Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Coxsone Dodd, King Jammy’s and Bobby Digital in addition to creating seminal productions for his own label, Steelie and Clevie, with partner Cleveland Browne.
The tribute is the first-ever cover production from the eclectic Juke Boxx Productions label, which has racked up an impressive collection of charttopping tracks. The Juke Boxx style is defined by superior production values rather than genre. The variations of hits include the controversial Gash Dem by Chuck Fender, the poignant Brooklyn and Jamaica by Morgan Heritage and the hardcore Money Changer by Mavado, among many others.