Over the past few years the sounds of roots reggae music emanating from the island of St. Croix has risen in meteoric proportions. Rootical rhythms are blended with conscious chanting to give the music a unique sound.Though most of the singers and musicians hail from St. Croix, some come from the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. John. Still others have journeyed to distant places, yet the 'Cruzial' vibe still permeates through their music.
The U.S. Virgin Islands have a fairly large number of record labels and recording studios for a set of islands with a total population of just over 100,000. Other labels are based in the U.S. where some of the production work is done as well.
Most of the record labels are owned and operated by the artist or band whose music appears on that label. One notable exception is I Grade Records, that has released materials from a slew of different artists. Another is Julian 'Batch' Cumberland's Sound V.I.Zion Records. This St. Croix label has released materials from Mada Nile, Ras Attitude, Batch, Dezarie and Ambassada.
In 2000, Midnite opened their own studio Afrikan Roots Lab in St. Croix. Since then they have released several of their own Afrikan Roots Lab albums that were recorded there, as well as music from father Ronnie Benjamin, Dezarie and Ikahba. Several other 'roots recording studios' have also sprung up on the islands during this time, but the majority of artists still have to rely on 'commercial' studios in order to get their music out to the people.
http://www.vireggae.com/recordlabels.htm.. width="425" height="350" ..Mama Pressure ft. Rising Stars
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