Our first encounter with Bashment Sound was with an In-Session mixtape featuring exclusive NC Dread tracks. It would be the first hint that the link with NC Dread was imminent. Today they are the management team behind the rising popularity of Singjay NC Dread; dishing out a weekly Friday Edition Mix; playing at jam packed dances around Joburg and even put together a list of Top 20 Riddims for 2014.
MzansiReggae had a session with Bashment Sound to a get glimpse into the juggling world of the Big, Bad and Dangerous Sound.
MzansiReggae [MR]: Who/What is Bashment Sound?
Bashment Sound is an entertainment entity that is involved in event management & promotion, artiste management, music production and dancehall juggling
MR: When did it all begin?
Officially late 2010, unofficially…we cannot remember, it has been a while.
MR: What is each individual member’s role?
BashmentS comprises of 4 members
- The Baron – Administration and selecta
- Fria – Managemement and Administration
- Papa Flexy – Producer, Sound Engineering and selecta
- Xuga – Selecta & Artiste Management
Recording Artiste signed under Bashment Sound
- NC Dread – Recording artiste
MR: Outside of Bashment sound, what do you guys do, what are you involved in?
We are all Accounting/Audit professionals with regular 9 to 5 jobs.
MR: Your foray into artist management, how did that come about?
From our early juggling days, amongst ourselves as work colleagues, before the official launch of Bashment Sound, NC Dread used to “chant some lyrics” on dancehall riddims. This carried through after the sound was formed as NC would join us on stage and freestyle during live sessions.
Upon recording his first hit single, Always, we formalised our working relationship with him and signed him under Bashment Sound. The rest is history…
MR: How do you maintain the balance. Management and Sound System?
It is a lot of work because the NC Dread brand is growing exponentially which inherently demands a lot of our attention. Furthermore, we are getting more bookings from promoters across the country for both our juggling skills and NC Dread performances as well as managing and promoting our own events. This often results in a plethora of issues that we have to deal with at any particular moment but it is a challenge we relish because music is our passion. Our Audit background has helped us to appreciate the concept of segregation of duties thus making it easier for us to allocate tasks within the team.
MR: You planning on signing up more artists?
Yes indeed. We are always on the lookout for talent that needs nurturing as well as established artistes who we can take to the next level through our global networks established over the years.
We are at advanced stages of negotiations with big talents from West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria), an upcoming artiste in Zimbabwe who is insanely gifted and a few local artists who we believe are the future of dancehall in SA.
Bashment is also working closely with 2 Jamaican artsistes who are seeking a stronger presence in Africa. We are not working on signing them but rather form a partnership which will include distribution. They have already done some maad dubplates and drops for us which will be rolling out over the next few months.
MR: Tell us about the Friday Edition, what is it?
As part of our continuous improvement strategy, we conduct sound sessions between gigs to polish our juggling skills. Some of our fans sit in and listen to us as we rip through the riddims and buss different mix styles. More often than not we record these sessions and listen to them for feedback amongst ourselves. Our fans and friends, as always, demand copies which they, in turn, usually share with their peers. The feedback we have been receiving from the people has been very positive and that became “Friday Edition”. We were already inundated by requests to increase the frequency of our regular mixtapes thus “Friday Edition” became the apparent answer.
What makes this special is that it is 30 mins of pure unedited dancehall juggling…just like one would experience a live Bashment session in a dance.
The first one was released about a month ago to such overwhelming response…downloads stats went beyond the highest of our expectations and we now have 4 editions.
MR: Who is it aimed at?
Everybody who loves the art of juggling. Our primary audience is obviously reggae and dancehall fans around the world with our download stats revealing that South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, USA, Jamaica, Germany, UK, France, Indonesia and Australia are the countries with the most download activity.
MR: Will this be coming out every Friday without fail/ or you will be phasing it out along the line?
Every product has a lifecycle, Friday Edition is no different. We will review it’s performance on a continual basis. Presently it is a big hit around the globe and we will be at it for a while. We have partnered with popular sites who are carrying it weekly as they have picked up on its popularity.
We are soon going to record our ‘normal’ mixtape series “In-Session” which should be out early in March.
Some interesting facts about Bashment Sound
Stone Love is their favourite Sound system of all time
They would love to work with Mzekezeke, just to flex outside of the Dancehall scene
They would one day love to play at Sumfest
The two main chunes that they play without fail at their sessions are Dem Cah Stop mi by NC Dread and Who Dem by Capleton
The first ever chune they buss at a Dancehall session was Beenie Man’s Wickedest Slam
One of their killer opening tracks is Iron like Zion by the Tuff Gong Bob Marley.
They will mostly likely close a session with Redder Fire by Capleton.
They prefer juggling to clashing
The highlight of their journey is the progress of NC Dread in Jamaica and Europe and the recognition by big sounds in Brooklyn, top zipjocks in Jamaica, London & Germany
The future looks bright as they continue to grow and entertaining their growing fan base across the globe
Friday Edition IV
Click here for previous editions