More Pressure

There was little reggae in the United States Virgin Islands territory of St Thomas when singer Pressure Buss Pipe was a teenager. The clubs and the island's sound systems were his main source of Jamaican music.

Five years ago when he made Jamaican charts (as Pressure) with the lovers' rock number, Love and Affection, it was an achievement that transcended the usual euphoria that comes with a hit song.

"It was a great feeling, coming from an island where there is little reggae. Hearing my song on Jamaican radio was a blessing," Pressure Buss Pipe, 30, told the Jamaica Observer. "The whole island (St Thomas) was proud."

The stocky Rastafarian has been out of the Jamaican limelight in recent times. He has been putting in the studio hours working on his fourth album, Africa Redemption, which will be released next month.

Most of the 20 songs Pressure Buss Pipe has recorded are produced by Trevor 'Baby G' James, whose Yard Vibes Productions is responsible for chart-toppers like Jah Cure's Anytime You Need a Lover and Mavado's On The Rock.

"We want to present a solid album of 12 songs. It's Baby G's first album and he wants everything to be perfect," he said.

Two songs from the Grammy-winning Marley brothers, Damian and Stephen, are likely to make the album's final cut. Those songs, Freedom Fighter and Yad Away Home, were produced by the Marleys with Pressure Buss Pipe in Miami.

While performing for the Star Lion sound system in St Thomas in the late-1990s, rubbing shoulders with dancehall's elite was something Delyno Brown (Pressure Buss Pipe's real name) could only dream of.

Though St Thomas radio fed a steady diet of calypso and hip hop, he was a fan of Capleton, Jah Mason and Capleton, artistes who were "burning a heavy fire for Rasta". His first song, Ghetto Youths, was done for the local hip-hop label Black Juice Records.

Later, he met Dean Pond, a musician from St Croix who produced his next song, No Limitations as well as his debut album, The Pressure Is On. It was through Pond that he met Jamaican producer Don Corelon who re-arranged Love and Affection, which was originally done for Pond.

Corleon's version became a radio/dancehall hit and was followed by an album of the same name. The Miami-based Pond produced Pressure Buss Pipe's third album, Coming Back to You.

Africa Redemption will be jointly released by Buss Pipe Records and Yard Vibes Productions.

(from Jamaica Star)