Jamaica’s hot T.O.K to rock city
Nov 18, 2004
Straight from Jamaica, T.O.K dancehall’s hottest foursome are set to perform in Kampala tomorrow night. The quartet, who fly in tomorrow, will perform at Hotel Africana from 7:00pm.
By Ssebidde Kiryowa
Straight from Jamaica, T.O.K dancehall’s hottest foursome are set to perform in Kampala tomorrow night. The quartet, who fly in tomorrow, will perform at Hotel Africana from 7:00pm.
The show will feature artistes Titi, Halima and Ragga Dee. Entrance will be sh15,000 for regular seats and sh25,000 for VIPs.
The band made up of Xavier “Flexx†Avidson, Craig “Crigy T†Thompson, Alistaire “Alex†McCalla, and Roshaun “Bay-C†Clarke, a crew of 23-year-old Kingstonians, have shown their true strength with Gal You Ah Lead, a single off their second album Man Ah Badman.
The track, a blend of beats and sensibilities with a reggae and R&B-infused sound, has become a crossover hit. In Uganda, the song is not just a dance floor anthem, but a radio hit. “We will be around for a very long time, †says Bay-C. Their 2001 debut album, My Crew and My Dawgs, was recognised in the US, when it peaked at No Six on Billboard’s Top Reggae Album’s chart.
This album spawned such locally recognisable hit singles as Chi Chi Man (termite in Jamaican patrois). This is the song seen largely as being the backbone for T.O.K’s current success.
Yet it is still hard to pigeonhole the group’s music as Craigy T one music site: “We make our music for different people from different walks of life. And T.O. K. is too big, too broad, and too damn wicked for any head to ignore it - hip hop, R&B, dancehall, Babylonian or Rasta.†T.O.K was set up nine years ago with four high school boys.
Alistaire, Roshaun, and Craig were in the school choir at Campion College, while Xavier attended Calabar High, all in Kingston, Jamaica.
Originally, the acronym T.O.K stood for Touch of Klass, but over the years, it has taken different meanings from Taking Over Kingston’ to ‘To Klaat,’ and whatever the creative T.O.K minds come up with.
“From the beginning, life was about “T.O.K - school and music, “Alex told iriefm.net . “Xavier and I loved singing and were good friends. I went to school with Craig and Roshaun, so we brought them in.
this was in the early 90’s, during the whole emergence of Boyz II Men. We started singing their songs and sounding like them.
But in growing together as a unit, we developed the sound you hear now. It’s about combining the hardcore dancehall sound with R&B harmonies and hip hop, thus creating something brand new.†“It’s more like an evolution rather than a change,†notes Crigy T.
With Richard Browne as manager and frequent producer, T.O.K slammed out hits, including Whoa, III Nana and others recorded for top producers like Eagles, which was followed closely by the monster that won’t go away, Chi Chi man.
Straight from Jamaica, T.O.K dancehall’s hottest foursome are set to perform in Kampala tomorrow night. The quartet, who fly in tomorrow, will perform at Hotel Africana from 7:00pm.
The show will feature artistes Titi, Halima and Ragga Dee. Entrance will be sh15,000 for regular seats and sh25,000 for VIPs.
The band made up of Xavier “Flexx†Avidson, Craig “Crigy T†Thompson, Alistaire “Alex†McCalla, and Roshaun “Bay-C†Clarke, a crew of 23-year-old Kingstonians, have shown their true strength with Gal You Ah Lead, a single off their second album Man Ah Badman.
The track, a blend of beats and sensibilities with a reggae and R&B-infused sound, has become a crossover hit. In Uganda, the song is not just a dance floor anthem, but a radio hit. “We will be around for a very long time, †says Bay-C. Their 2001 debut album, My Crew and My Dawgs, was recognised in the US, when it peaked at No Six on Billboard’s Top Reggae Album’s chart.
This album spawned such locally recognisable hit singles as Chi Chi Man (termite in Jamaican patrois). This is the song seen largely as being the backbone for T.O.K’s current success.
Yet it is still hard to pigeonhole the group’s music as Craigy T one music site: “We make our music for different people from different walks of life. And T.O. K. is too big, too broad, and too damn wicked for any head to ignore it - hip hop, R&B, dancehall, Babylonian or Rasta.†T.O.K was set up nine years ago with four high school boys.
Alistaire, Roshaun, and Craig were in the school choir at Campion College, while Xavier attended Calabar High, all in Kingston, Jamaica.
Originally, the acronym T.O.K stood for Touch of Klass, but over the years, it has taken different meanings from Taking Over Kingston’ to ‘To Klaat,’ and whatever the creative T.O.K minds come up with.
“From the beginning, life was about “T.O.K - school and music, “Alex told iriefm.net . “Xavier and I loved singing and were good friends. I went to school with Craig and Roshaun, so we brought them in.
this was in the early 90’s, during the whole emergence of Boyz II Men. We started singing their songs and sounding like them.
But in growing together as a unit, we developed the sound you hear now. It’s about combining the hardcore dancehall sound with R&B harmonies and hip hop, thus creating something brand new.†“It’s more like an evolution rather than a change,†notes Crigy T.
With Richard Browne as manager and frequent producer, T.O.K slammed out hits, including Whoa, III Nana and others recorded for top producers like Eagles, which was followed closely by the monster that won’t go away, Chi Chi man.