This past Saturday (February 16,2002), Pepsi from Renaissance Sound was in Chicago for Sagittarius’ Valentine’s Bashment.  Wrecka, from chicagoreggae.com crew caught up with him for an exclusive interview. 

 Pepsi is a selector for Renaissance Sound out of Jamaica.  He is one out of six current working selectors (disk jockeys) on the Sound.  For four years he’s been selecting for Renaissance and prior to that (since 1989) he was mainly working at clubs such as Asylum and Cactus, which are two of the most popular dancehall clubs in the Kingston area of Jamaica. 

 Wrecka: Were you  afraid to fly to the US after the terrorist attacks?

Pepsi:  Actually I wasn’t afraid.  If this is the way to go, this is the way to go.  My job comes first.   I love to play music and the best thing is to play it all over the world…  I had a ticket for September 11.  I was supposed to go to Fort Lauderdale.

Wrecka:   Do you consider Renaissance a juggling sound or a clash sound or both?

Pepsi:  We are a juggling sound.  We tend to bring a dancing vibe to whatever we are doing.  Not that we can’t defend ourselves in case anything happens, but that is not our aim.

Wrecka:  What sounds have inspired you, and who is your favorite sound, away from Renaissance?

Pepsi:  To tell you the truth, Stone Love has been on the top of my list for the longest time still, and Bass Odyssey.  Bass Odyssey has this thing where they can be anything they want to be.  They can clash and juggle.  Other sounds can do that too, but Bass Odyssey just has a formula and they stick to that and it works.

Wrecka:  What sounds do you dislike and why?

Pepsi:  I don’t really dislike any other sound you know.  This sound name can not go on the record (here we turned off the recorder J)…

Wrecka:  Which countries or cities do you like to play the most in?

Pepsi:  …some cities aren’t that hype, but some are wicked.  I was in Boston last week and that was really good since it was a couple weeks after superbowl.  I’ve been to Finland and Estonia. Germany was really good.  One of my favorite places to play in is Antigua.  The people are just hype.  It’s almost a Jamaican type of crowd. 

Wrecka:  Which place would you like to play in the most where you haven’t played already?

Pepsi:  Japan.  Renaissance has been to Japan, but not me.  Boy, the technology…I want to carry some money with me and just come back broke.  Buy some things..  

Wrecka:  Where is the best dance you’ve played?

Pepsi:  That’s a really hard question.  Boston last week was really hype…  Another one was, boy mi haffi give you about three you know-  Stone Love, Sagittarius in Atlanta, that was a nice dance and one in Germany<The name of the festival in germany is "Splash" it was kept at : Chemnitz (Stausee Oberrabenstien)> We were juggling alongside a German sound called SoundQuake.  That was a dance where I couldn’t leave.  I don’t know if the crowd really understood the music as such, but trust me, they were dancing, it was all good.  When it lock off, nobody would leave.  Hot crowd.  Shouting “More! More!”, five oclock in the morning shouting more….

Wrecka:  Which sound would you like to clash with the most?

Pepsi:  Damn….  (this one had to go off the record too)  <Pepsi’s very diplomatic, eeh?>

Wrecka:  Which sounds would you like to juggle alongside with the most?

Pepsi:  Boy there’s none exactly.  Believe me, we’ve played with most sounds already  and it’s always been a good vibe so far.

Wrecka:  Which artists have made your favorite dubplates?

Pepsi:  All of the artists treat us well.  All of them.   I can’t think of any one.  <after more coaxing from Wrecka>  Well, right now we don’t really walk with it as much still, but the Spragga Benz…

Wrecka:  Yes.  It seems Spragga never really gets his props.  You think it’s due to promotion or what?

Pepsi:  Most foreigners don’t understand our language.  You don’t have to change your culture to make other people understand what you’re saying.  It’s really about proper promotion and being able to introduce people to what you are used to.  Because Bob Marley did not change what he was doing at all.  He just kept on doing what he was doing until people catch on.

Wrecka:  You feel if you had better promotion both island side and state side dancehall would be in better shape?

Pepsi:  Yeah!  Let me show you a small point.  For example, we are keeping a dance, if you notice you go into a Jamaican store you see the flyers all over the place, but if you walk into an Italian store you don’t see any.  Why is that?   Do we feel that Italians won’t appreciate our music or is it that we just don’t want them to come?   If you don’t invite people, they won’t come.  You have to start giving it to other people so the music can get bigger and better.

Wrecka:  Has the dancehall music treated Renaissance Sound fairly?

Pepsi:  Business is very fickle.  It has treated Renaissance and a lot of sounds fairly, but then again it has treated a lot of sounds unfairly.  We have worked hard and have earned our way in the business, so no complaints about that.

Wrecka:  How would you define work?

Pepsi:  Anything it takes to put you on top, you have to continue to do, or else…  Anything at all that will put you on top.  So if you have to kill a man to get your sound on top, you have to continue killing or else you ago drop off.

Wrecka:  What do you feel about mixing reggae and hiphop?

Pepsi:  Well,  it’s a new avenue.  It’s a way for other artists to get a break in the business.  We can be straight dancehall, or we can mix it up.  It’s a good way to bring life into the business, but at the same time if you do too much of a foreign thing then you’ll drown out your own stuff, so you have to keep a balance in between… It doesn’t jeopardize our music in any way.

Wrecka:  How do you feel personally about the profanity laws that they’re trying to enforce in Jamaica?

Pepsi:  It has it’s good points and it has it’s bad points.  It’s good because it helps protect the kids, but it’s bad when you try to enforce it on adults in an adult environment, it makes no sense.  You’re trying to take away people’s freedom.

Wrecka:    What would you like to say to the fans?

Pepsi:  Keep the love and spread the music.  Make dancehall get bigger.

Wrecka:  what would you like to say to other sounds?

Pepsi:  Boy…

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