LONDON, England – Reggae label Greensleeves Records & Publishing announced that it just signed reggae-dancehall sensations Busy Signal and Gyptian, and hit-makers Shane “Jukeboxx” Brown and Llamar “Riff Raff” Brown (no relation) who are currently dominating the reggae and dancehall charts worldwide.
Hot dancehall artist Busy Signal has signed off a multiple album and publishing deal t this week. The hype dancehall artist, enjoying huge chart success worldwide with his current hits “Jail” and “Wine Pon Di Edge” made his indelible mark in dancehall with his breakout single, the anthem Step Out in 2005. He subsequently released his debut album of the same title on Greensleeves Records in 2006. This latest deal was brokered by his manager and producer Shane C. Brown of Juke Boxx Productions who is currently working with him on his forthcoming album due for release in 2008 on Greensleeves Records. Busy Signal commented on the deal: “I am happy to put out my next album on Greensleeves and to know that a company is going to look after my publishing interests worldwide”.
Reggae singer Gyptian also signed a publishing agreement with Greensleeves Publishing’s American affiliate STB Music. Gyptian broke through with his debut album My Name Is Gyptian released by VP Records in 2006 and which contained the hit singles “Mama”, “Serious Times” and “Beautiful Lady”. Gyptian is slated to release his new album I Can Feel Your Pain on VP Records this summer.
Shane Brown, the multi-talented and hot producer behind the recent hits such as Morgan Heritage’s “Brooklyn & Jamaica” and more recently Demarco’s “Better Jamaica” has also inked a deal with the company’s publishing arm. Shane says of the deal: “Both Busy and I have had a relationship with the label in the past. They released my Klymaxx rhythm as part of their Rhythm Album series and Greensleeves also put out Busy’s debut album Step Out. They are the leading reggae music publisher in the world and we hope it will be a boost to both mine and Busy’s career”. Shane is currently enjoying huge success with his Warning rhythm featuring dancehall slammers from Busy Signal, Mavado, Bounty Killer and Demarco to name a few and he is already coming up with the Trenches rhythm. He also produced a track called “We Set The Pace” on Foxy Brown’s upcoming album Brooklyn’s Don Diva to be released by Koch Records this summer.
Greensleeves Publishing also signed the young producer Llamar “Riff Raff” Brown. The 21 year old has recently been working with the top reggae artists producing tracks for Morgan Heritage’s new album “Mission In Progress” and Richie Spice’s new album “Gideon Boot” and upcoming albums by Beenie Man, Gyptian, Etana (the hit singles “Live & Love Life” and “I Am Not Afraid” from her upcoming album “The Strong One”). Llamar said of his signing “I am very excited about my new venture with Greensleeves Music Publishing. I am certain that the future with myself and Greensleeves Records holds endless possibilities and I am honoured to be a part of the family.” Llamar also co-produced the 83 Rhythm (Greensleeves Records) and Rub A Dub rhythm (VP Records) with Kemar “Flava” McGregor.
Olivier Chastan, President of Greensleeves, added: “These signings show that Greensleeves is here to stay and that I intend for Greensleeves to remain the leading reggae music publisher in the world.”
