IT SEEMED as though singer Red Star Lion just appeared on the reggae scene.

And so when he made his national debut at the Damian Junior Gong Marley concert in October 2006, many people thought he was one of the new foreign acts.

But in fact, Matthew Thomas had been preparing himself to become Red Star Lion at least four years before, and was therefore not surprised when his ordained debut song became a hit.

You Are The One which can be found on the Reggae Baje Vol. 2 album, was born out of a personal tragedy that was the death of a close cousin, but like the proverbial silver lining behind the dark cloud, three weeks after the song's release, he got the chance to perform with a scion of the Marley empire who became the first of his family to perform in Barbados this century.

Red Star Lion's first release was followed by Watching Me and Thank You Jah, and he has enjoyed good radio play with his tracks.

That attention from radio could also be due to the great production of his music, recorded as it was at Orange Cloud Studios, all engineered by David Thomas, and mastered by Roger Moore. He has also released I know I Can Fly (produced by Papa T) and Jah Is Living In Me (produced by David Thomas).

The freshness of his sound and the difference in his performance style have both contributed to him doing requested live performances by the end of last year. Already he has performed with Collie Buddz, Jah Cure, Two Face Idibia, Taurrus Riley, Richie Spice and Norris Man.

As a 'new' artiste who began his career on a level higher than most local reggae artistes, he has a particular perspective on the business of the performance aspect of the music industry here.

"We have suffered from what some may call a lack of cooperation and support needed from the DJ fraternity.

"In order for a song to become popular overseas it has to first prove itself locally and this is the case with the Trinidadian reggae artistes, and people such as Pressure from St Thomas, but other than the calypso, I would say every other genre of music has suffered from the same curse," he observed.

"We can't use the excuse now that reggae is not Bajan and will only be accepted by the world if its origin is Jamaican because we have the examples of Matis Yahu who is of Israeli descent, and Collie Buddz from Bermuda, and Gentleman from Germany, even as far back as Snow from Canada.

"So sometimes we just need to look in the mirror and be honest with ourselves and stop being the first to see every fault there is in our personal and local endeavours," he chided.

Overlooked

Giving full support to the creative endeavours of artistes and producers, he staunchly defended the creativity of Bajan reggae music.

"When we see our artistes at a live show, sometimes it is almost astounding to see how our talent compares to the rest of the world.

"I can safely say that I have enjoyed reasonable airplay from local radio stations considering I have just completed my rookie year in the industry, and I give thanks for the DJs that felt my vibration.

"But I can't help but notice some of my colleagues have been undeservedly overlooked.

"It seems as though we need to get our certificate of approval from overseas to have the same level playing field as a foreign artiste.

"On the release of any local song we would never see this track receiving the level of airplay within one year that a foreign artiste would achieve in two days," he said, adding as an example an artiste such as Movado who is played in every single shift.

"The problem with DJs is that they are competing with each other at the expense of the artistes."

Fortunately for Red Star Lion, people outside of Barbados have been hearing his music and he has generated interest from people in Grenada, T&T and the UK.

He was also offered a lead role in a film. (AK)