If you’ve been to events such as Hennesy V or Daybreak, you have experienced the immense attention to detail and exactitude that Romaine “Luigi Society” Brown approaches every situation with. Luigi is a seasoned events promoter who has also worked prodigiously in the financial industry in Jamaica for the last decade. He is now ready to take over as a music producer and with his track record as an events promoter and financial expert, it would be remiss of you to doubt him. The diehard Bounty Killer fan and proud Wolmerian, possesses a regal social status in the events and entertainment circles that could be likened to that of “Vito Corleone.” Even before getting involved in music production, Luigi has been a source of sobriety, council and a voice of reason to many artists and entertainers within the Jamaican creative space. Being a charismatic yet reticent individual, Brown has developed a good rapport with possibly every top artists in the business but has a passion for artist development and the rise of young artists. Young artists are a disenfranchised group of creative who are often neglected by the radio stations and denied recording opportunities with quality producers. Luigi is determined to bridge the gap between established artists and upcoming ones so we sat with the University Of Technology graduate to hear his plan of action.
CARIB VOXX: How has working in the financial sector for years shaped your approach to the business aspect of music production?
Luigi: The music industry is probably as much business as it is music, so working in the financial institution has definitely ensured that I have the business aspect of the music embedded into everything I do. Too many times we see producers / artists have some of the biggest songs and because they didn’t sort out the business structure, they don’t receive the full returns for their hard work. Similar to having investments and insurance schemes for unforeseen circumstances, musicians should have their back-end framework and do their proper registrations with all the relevant royalty agencies prior to putting the music out and that’s definitely what I’ve done.
CARIB VOXX: Who are some of the members of you music production team that assist in the creative process?
Luigi: First and foremost, Benzly Hype is widely known as an artist but not many people know that he is also an excellent composer/engineer/producer and he was the first one to teach me about the “music industry” on a whole. He was the first influence on me as a producer. But it wasn’t until I started to work with Munga Honorable was when I actually took it serious as a career. Like Benzly, Munga is a perfectionist, and we would basically live in the studio. 24 hours would pass and we would still be in the studio, and if you’re around Munga that long you will develop that perfectionist mentally. So both Benzly and Munga have played integral roles in the start of my career and we partnered on “Mr Flip Rhymes” for Munga that was co-produced by me and Benzly.
Since then, my production team includes Gran One Muzik and Vision House Entertainment, both of who create the magic from my input with composition, mixing and mastering. I’ve worked with Gran One Muzik on “Colors”,“Fabiloso” &“Flowww” all by Munga Honorable. I’ve worked with Vision House Entertainment on “Ray Gad” by Dane Ray, “Nuh Round Ya” by Natural Flamez, “Entangled” by Yello Hype & Thea, “Another Round” by Press Kay and on a co-production with Jr Bloodline for the Morning Bliss riddim which features Munga Honorable, Demarco, Jah Vinci, Noah Powa, Cutty, Chronic Law, Zj Liquid and Chino Mcgregor. I have a new collaborative project with Gran One Muzik slated to release this November called the Sikario Riddim featuring the likes of Popcaan, Munga, Teejay, Wasp, Dane Ray, Ratigan, Kyodi, Deyes, Natural Flamez, Frahcess One and Thesarus.
CARIB VOXX: The stale and useless debate of Trap Dancehall vs Traditional Dancehall needs to end! As a lover of both interpretations of the beautiful genre, how do you think you can help to bridge this artistic generation gap?
Luigi: It seems that this debate about Trap Dancehall and Traditional Dancehall will never end, but it’s clear that the music is only evolving, as it did from ska to rock steady, reggae to dancehall and now to “Trap Dancehall”. We can only appreciate what is here now while never forgetting where it all started and for this reason I’ve produced both Trap Dancehall and Traditional Dancehall. “Ray Gad’ by Dane Ray is considered Trap Dancehall but if you listen to my work on “Nuh Round Ya” by Natural Flamez, you will realize that is authentic dancehall. I have another project (unreleased) with Teflon, that’s also authentic or traditional dancehall as you put it.
CARIB VOXX: Tell us about your tertiary means to you and why you chose that area of study?
Luigi: I have a degree in Production Operations Management at the University of Technology and this gave me the requisite educational structure that would enable an advanced thought process, in regards to how I approach the music business. I chose this degree because it’s the only degree that comprises a piece of all other degrees offered at the Universit. It gives you that level of diversification because it offers Information Technology, Business, Accounting, even Business Law just to name a few, all of which are formidable skillsets.
CARIB VOXX: Who is the greatest Dancehall producer of all time?
Luigi: There are so many great dancehall producers that pioneered the industry up to this date, its hard to pinpoint and say that a specific person is. But a few immediately comes to mind in no particular order; King Jammys, Bobby Digital, Dave Kelly, Sly & Robbie, Steelie and Clevie, Tony Kelly, Don Corleone and Steven McGregor.
CARIB VOXX: What is the greatest riddim of all time ?
Luigi: It’s very hard to pinpoint dancehall’s greatest riddims, when so manyinfluential and successful productions exist. Some of my personal favorites are Sleng Teng, Backyard, andDiwali exists but my top 3 greatest dancehall riddims are the Bug, Showtime and Anger Management.
