Busy Signal: From church choir to dancehall star

By Humphrey Wampula

No doubt the first weekend of December is going to have quite some busy fun! You can bet on it! Celebrated dancehall reggae artiste Busy Signal is setting foot on the streets of Kampala!

Characterized by a mesmerising vocal stream, Busy Signal (real name Glendale Goshia Gordon), is referred to as the gold standard for new generation releases of ragga and reggae music.

Bio

It just might interest you to know that Busy Signal was raised in a staunch Christian family, alongside three brothers and a sister by his devoutly religious mom.

He was nicknamed Busy Signal by his friends because he was constantly busy. And just like many secular artistes, Busy Signal’s first exposure to music was in the church.

While attending service and singing hymns, he realised he possessed an immense and seductive vocal talent, earning him a level of respect from the congregation.

Much to the excitement of many of his peers, Busy Signal would on many occasions ‘remix’ church hymns and replace the lyrics with his own stuff.

At some point in his childhood, Busy’s family moved to a volatile neighbourhood in Kingstone, Jamaica, something that many think inspired his gritty lyrics.

As a teen, Busy would save his pocket money to buy cassettes of popular music, everything from Madonna and Whitney Houston to Jay Z and Eminem. At one point, he was suspended from school for banging classroom desks while recreating the beats of popular riddims.

That aside, the blaring music from clubs in the neighbourhood just wouldn’t let this dancehall-obsessed kid have a good night’s sleep. Busy was often tempted to sneak out of home to listen to the music he loved.

He took his first step towards his goals with the release of his first single, Shake It Fast, voiced over the Tunda Clap riddim.

Busy Signal’s breakthrough was a bit slow.It happened in 2006 with the hits, Not Going Down and Step Out, produced by Greensleeves Records.

He also featured on Born and Grow, and Not Going Down, with a horde of guest artistes including Bounty Killer, who mentored him in the early stages of his career.

It was Bounty Killer who provided Busy with the first opportunity to display his talent in front of a Jamaican audience. Busy’s association with Bounty Killer led to the formation of an association of aartistes, The Alliance. With this, Busy became more popular and his singles consistently thrilled eager fans at concerts and major Jamaican stage shows like Sting and Sumfest.

Mayhem and beef

Busy Signal was once at odds with fellow dancehall artiste Aidonia. They fired lyrical artillery at each other, but did not have a physical clash.

In 2008, jailed dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel produced various ‘diss tracks’ aimed at Busy Signal and other alliance members, to which Busy responded with a few tracks.

Plot: Where the party at?

Busy Signal’s consecutive hits on UG’s dance-floor mania have earned him the two slots on December 6 and 8 at Lugogo Cricket Oval and Spenna Beach, respectively!

Word has it that Busy Signal will also be officially opening Urban TV. “Busy Signal blends in well with our target audience,” firmly says Michael Owor (aka DJ Bush Baby), Urban TV station manager.

“And I think it is huge to be the first TV in Uganda to beat the stereotype and have an international artiste officially open a TV station, instead of having a government official like the rest have done,” he boastfully adds.

Also, there are over 500 free tickets to the show for those who will be stuck to Urban TV throughout this time.. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!