Reasoning with Anthony B

Better to do right and to do right without fear than to do wrong and know that you are doing wrong and be afraid.

--Anthony B

Peter Tosh said in 1980, “If I were the Prime Minister no guy could tell me what to do. Bloodclat, Îcause I know what is right. Seen? And everything I do must be Biblical and righteously right. So me no want no guy come tell me what to do.” With such fervor and self-confidence, it is no wonder that Tosh became a hero and inspiration to Anthony B. Righteousness, African repatriation, and the Bible are only a fraction of the themes they both address in their music.

When I conducted an interview with Anthony B on February 26, 2000, I thought he would be fundamentally Tosh-like in manner: direct, strong willed, and charismatic. However, he proved to be soft-spoken, patient with my questioning and committed to spreading his message.

Born Keith Blair in rural Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, Anthony B grew up in the church under the guidance of his Revivalist grandmother and Seventh Day Adventist mother. From church singing to secular deejaying, Anthony B has always received intense pleasure from singing and following the latest music. As a teenager, he adopted the Rastafari way of life and grew his dreadlocks. His grandmother, feeling that the Rastas were a “blackhearted” people, gave him the choice of cutting off his locks or moving out of her house. Believing in his Rasta ways, Anthony B moved in with his aunt and uncle in Portmore. In 1993, Richard “Bello” Bell of Star Trail Records noticed his lyrical ability and their collaboration continues to this day.

Anthony B began recording in 1994, making hits with “Repentance Time,” “One Thing,” “Hurt the Heart,” and “Gwane Chant,” with Sizzla, Derrick Lara, Determine and Louis Culture. But the floodgates to fame broke open in 1995 with his anti-Vatican tirade, “Fire ÎPon Rome,” which was banned all over Jamaica and Miami. Bell reflected, “I thought IRIE-FM [the Jamaican all-Reggae radio station] would be a more liberal station, but apart from Muta[baruka], nobody at IRIE wanted to play it.” “Raid the Barn” soon followed and Anthony B was a conscious dancehall contender.

His debut album was released in 1996 entitled “So Many Things/Real Revolutionary” on the Star Trail label. His second album, “Universal Struggle,” (1998, VP Records) won critical acclaim and showcased the anthem, “Damage.”

“Seven Seals” is his latest CD, released in the UK by Jet Star, in North America by VP Records and in the Caribbean by Star Trail/VP. Enhanced by CD-ROM capabilities, “Seven Seals” is his best effort yet, staying true to his ultimate message.

Laura Gardner: When did you first learn you had a good voice and could sing?

Anthony B: Well, I’ve been singing from a young, young age. I grew up on the streets with my friends and they would always encourage me. There’s something about music in me. I would know every song that played on the radio even before I started to write songs. My friends would say, “Bwai! You know music!” So, growing up, going to school, I started writing songs in school and I said, “I’m gonna be a musician.”

LG: When did you first know you were a star and you had made it? Was it with “Fire ÎPon Rome?”

Anthony B: When I came to Star Trail, about ’91 or ’92, there was a 14-parish Sunsplash competition going on in JamaicaÛa DJ from every parish. There were 14 of us and I won for St. Catherine and went onto Sunsplash for the first time. We recorded a song in ’94 called “Hurt the Heart” and that song started doing good in Jamaica and I started doing a lot of dub plates and a lot of little country shows. So from there, “Fire ÎPon Rome” came in ’95.

LG: Tell me about how “Raid the Barn” came to you, because it could be a universal anthem.

Anthony B: We were going through a phase, just opening the eyes and looking at life. [The music industry] wasn’t really willing to help because we would go to disc jockeys and give them songs that they wouldn’t even listen to. Then “Fire ÎPon Rome” came and everyone was asking for a song from me to play. I said, “Remember? You have it!” Richard Bell, Star Trail producer, came to me with an idea and said, “Listen to this!” and the two of us started singing and it came together.

LG: I have read that Peter Tosh was a great influence on you. What was it about Peter’s music that influenced you and your ideas?

Anthony B: It’s his sound, first and foremost. Peter sounds like an angel to me. You listen to his voice and his voice is so touching, so convincing, so pure and so true, like everything you’d say. And the way he does his things; he does his things straight, proper and with no apology. Just be himself, who he is, you know? Yeah, that’s what I love about Peter.

LG: You often sing about anti-gun violence and how the “Bobo doesn’t have a gun in his pocket.” What are your feelings about gun control in the U.S., Jamaica and the Caribbean as a whole?

Anthony B: Take the guns out of the hands of the people. There is no purpose. You build guns to hunt and to create wars and to win new cities. That is what guns were created for. In ancient history, the country or the empire with the biggest, wickedest army could rule the world. That purpose and significance isn’t there anymore. So I think it’s time to take away the guns since the gun has no purpose. People who have guns and no purpose to fight are going to use it for careless things. That’s what’s happening right now. Gun is man’s biggest enemy. Gun has no friend. Gun is going to respect no one.

We need to start educating the people, educating the youths, giving the youths the fair opportunity, the fair chance to be educated, to know about themselves so they can feel proud about themselves so they don’t feel cheated in society and become serial killers or convicts. There is an illiteracy going around in the youth that they don’t understand. Sometimes there’s a youth out there and he’s walking and he feels like society rejects him because he doesn’t have his fair share, then he retaliates in a different way. So I think we need to educate. Give people their fair share of education.