What’s in a name? Ask Flava McGregor
The McGregor name is synonymous with music and talented reggae producer, Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor along with Big Ship’s Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor and Chino McGregor are proving more than able to keep the legacy alive.
Bu there’s a twist here, as Flava is not related to the highly decorated captain of the Big Ship, Freddy McGregor, but despite him saying it out loud on numerous occasions, nobody’s listening.
“I don’t know what else to do … it happens here in Jamaica, it happens overseas. I am at the airport in New York and the immigration people tell me ‘I listen to your dad’s songs, he’s good’. And when I say ‘he’s not my dad’ they give me a strange look, so sometimes I just leave it alone,” Flava said matter-of-fact.
“If I log on to my Myspace/email now, I am going to get at least a hundred mail from people telling me how they are glad that I am following in my father’s footsteps and they love how my brother Stephen do the dancehall and I do the reggae. And I know that Stephen gets it too,” he added.
Flava says he lives good with his ‘relatives’ and in fact, it was the music that brought him and Freddy together. “He heard about my work and sent and called me to commend me on my good work. And I subsequently produced a song with him,” the dedicated reggae producer stated.
Flava, who does production on his No Doubt label, has gained acclaim for songs such as Name And Number (Turbulance), Board House (Nesbeth), Daddy Don’t Touch Me There (Queen Ifrica), I Surrender (Beres Hammond), I Am Not Afraid (Etana), Nothing To Smile About (Morgan Heritage), Di Plane Land (Richie Spice) and One In A Million (Gramps Morgan) to name a few.
He produced Sizzla’s albums Speak of Jah and Brighter Day, Anthony B’s Smoke Free, and Upright by Luciano which was the album of the month on the German reggae charts in the year 2001. Flava also produced Gyptian’s album, My Name Is Gyptian which spawned the singer’s second major hit, Mama Don’t Cry on the Triumphant rhythm in 2006.
“I think I am a young man with an old soul,” Flava said explaining his passion for roots reggae as opposed to the subculture, dancehall.
Having proven that his success is no fluke, Flava, who studied engineering in Germany, is now ready to take on the challenge of focusing on his newly formed record label — Flava McGregor Records. For him the timing is perfect and the label will now give him a chance to do all that he wants to accomplish.
“Over all these years I have been creating so many hits I think the time is right to put out songs on a label that is easily identified with me and as me,” he said.
The producer noted that he has been restricted by his dealing with some of the major record labels which have a negative outlook on the market.
“They say the market is down and sales are slow, so I just want to do it myself. I think I’ve garnered enough knowledge about the business to now spread my wings,” he said with confidence.
Flava pointed out that he will be working closely with his talent pool of artistes that he started out with such as Beres, Marcia Griffiths, Etana among others.
His first project for the label is the one drop Classic Riddim which will be featuring the best in Reggae music right such as Beres Hammond, Etana, Singing Melody, Wayne Wonder, Maxi Priest, Kashief Lindo, Nickesha Lindo, Gyptian, Gramps Morgan, Stevie Face, Tony Curtis, Lukie D, Fiona, Duane Stephenson, T Moore, Freddie McGregor and Khago among others.
Speaking about the riddim Flava says it’s a “masterpiece” and he has a pretty good feeling about it, he is predicting that, this, his first major release for 2010 will be the next big hit for him.
Looking ahead Flava is now working on putting out an album for Gyptian on his label, plus he will be doing some exclusive work with Singing Melody.