PEPASEED Management&bookings -dimassive entertainment tele:(518)320-6414 cell:(516)304-1768 EMAIL
[email protected] in 2003, the enormously prolific Pepaseed became one of the leaders of the conscious dancehall movement. Along with Buju Banton and Capleton, he helped lead dancehall back to the musical and spiritual influence of its reggae roots. Pepaseed favored organic productions and Rastafarian subject matter over the trendy Americanized reggae. His music was generally positive, advocating faith, compassion for poor black youth, and respect for women. He sometimes courted controversy with his strict adherence to Rasta views and recanting of his troubled past. His critics particularly disapproved of his aggressive condemnations of homosexuals and White Western oppressors. Yet overall, his lyrics were profound and aimed generate positive change in a disturbed society. “All I teach is Inity, to show the world that all is one and a pure fight mi get cuz dey know the difference between me and the next man. Mi real and mi powerful. Yea it go so.†(Pepaseed, 1998)
Pepaseed remained something of an enigma to the public at large, rarely granting interviews and keeping his concert appearances to a minimum. Nonetheless, his fans still ranked Pepaseed as the most popular conscious reggae artist of his time. They appreciated his high standard of quality control and frequency with which he recorded his eclectic sound. “I don’t discriminate, music is universal and I listen to different genres of different music. I don’t try to limit mi self. Always moving forward.†(Pepaseed, 2003) Pepaseed always idealized Ken Booth, Marley, Supercat, Ninjaman, Capleton, Sizzla, Beenie, Barrington Levy, Bounty Killa, Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, and Biggy Smalls as well as other new millennium artists. A versatile vocalist with a soft, powerful tone, Pepaseed is both a rapid-fire lyricist and moves his audiences with his melodies and backing riddims. Pepaseed’s musical productions are among the strongest in contemporary dancehall.
Born Michael Millis on September 15, 1982, Pepaseed was raised in May Pen, in Clarendon, Jamaica. He moved to Kingston when he was eight years old to be with his devout Christian grandmother. Throughout Pepaseed’s tumultuous childhood he moved all over Jamaica, living with various family members for short periods at a time. He learned the value of the streets and the struggles of life at a young age. Despite his youthfulness, his mind was drawn to the politics, violence and corruption in society. As a young teenager, he expressed his thoughts, views, and observations through music. Finally, Pepaseed got a visa and moved to the United States at age fourteen. There he worked on honing his vocal skills until he met his cousin Stalence in 1998. The pair began performing and landed a gig with recording studio Nyahbinghi. At age sixteen, he recorded his first album. His songs played on a few radio stations. His career in music was still a struggle, bouncing between greedy producers, record labels, and managers. Throughout the chaos, however, he created his foundation; Pepaseed made a name for himself.
Like many artists before him, life got in the way of his talents and Mike was forced to put his music career on hold. Yet his true goals never left his mind. During his brief break from recording studios, he met Danny K of Dub Astronauts and B Blas, a rap artist and friend to Pepaseed. After performing at major venues such as upstate New York’s Grassroots festival and Musefest as well as local concerts at Castaways and the Haunt, Pepaseed began producing reggae, hip-hop, R&B, and dancehall music. With Danny K, Pepaseed produced music from B Blas, Dirty Hayze and Stalence as well as other various artists.
Big Spliff Records was started in 2003 by Pepaseed and Danny K aka Katch Wreck as a concept for independently owning and releasing original reggae and hip hop music. Katch Wreck maintains the page while Pepaseed promotes and produces the music and artists. BigSpliffRecords.com, the website for our record company, is still in the making. BigSpliff makes music for youth looking for direction in life. “Music is life and life is music,†music with a message to show the youth the right way to meditate because they’re our only hope for peace on earth… “the gift of JAH is eternal life.†(Romans 6:23)
