Dancehall superstar, Spragga Benz, released his ‘Shotta Culture‘ album on August 31, 2010. He had a lot to share about his latest album, which is the first segment of an ongoing project. At this time, he is also finishing up a documentary, which will feature videos of songs on his album and give more depth about who Spragga Benz is.

Spragga Benz - Shotta Culture

Interview with Spragga Benz by Zabrina

1) How do you remain versatile? I remain versatile by putting full effort into creating this album, and making music that I enjoy. Creating music as it comes ensures the people will feel it as well.

2) Do you find it hard to remain relevant in the industry and how do you remain different from other artists? I don’t find it hard at all to remain relevant. Making music is my hobby, and my fans enjoy the tracks I make. I am the only Spragga Benz, and my voice and sound is different from other artistes perhaps. I create music I feel comfortable with so my fans can feel the realness in my songs.

3) Who is your audience for this album? The audience for my album is a wide demographic, but for those 19+ – because of the adult content. I want everyone to enjoy my music, so there are different messages in each track that people can relate to.

4) Is competing with other artistes difficult? I don’t compete with other artistes. I only compete with myself to be better. I try to be as real as possible and stay grounded in reality.

5) What are your future plans? My plan is to complete my documentary. It is an ongoing project that I have been doing for about a year right now. The album was the first segment, and the documentary is another segment of this project. The documentary will feature various aspects of my life so that my fans can get to know me as a person. I will continue to make music on the new beats in the meanwhile as I work to finish the documentary. I am aiming for the documentary to be released by October, 2010.

6) What is your favourite track on the Shotta Culture album? I have two favourite tracks on the album, Livication and The Real News. The single Livication is about my son who passed away. The single The Real News is about social issues within our culture.

7) Where did you get the inspiration for this album? My friendship with Salaam Remi helped me to create this album. We would sit and hold a vibes. We were drinking one night and the term Shotta Culture came up in one of our conversations, and I knew that it would become the name of the album. Salaam has helped me a lot to make this album great.

 8) How is this album different from previous albums and what growth will fans notice with this album compared to early albums? The album is different from my previous work because I spent more time making the album, and I also spent more time listening to the tracks to see if there was anything that needed to be changed. Listening to the tracks repeatedly ensured the quality of the music was excellent. This album does not have as many trivial songs on it, and that is what my fans will notice. There are less songs with bad man lyrics and there aren’t as many songs about girls on it. My album has more songs about social issues. The name of the album is called Shotta Culture but it’s not about violence, its about our culture. The gangsta music is used to forefront what is happening and the change that needs to be made. I want people to listen to the album and see that we as a people have the knowledge and we can do something to make a change.

9) Who was the person you enjoyed working with most on the album? I really enjoyed working with Marcia Griffiths. She is a legend in the music business and her contribution with Bob Marley was amazing. I have the utmost respect for her and it was a proud moment for me to work with her.

10) What was it like working with Stephen Marley? I enjoyed working with Stephen. He was an easy person to work with musically, and it was a real learning experience for me as an artiste. Bob Marley is my favourite reggae artiste, and being able to work with his son was a great experience.

Parting words – I appreciate all the support my fans have given me and continue to give me. I think my album is a good thing for reggae music right now. My fans can leave feedback regarding my album on my website, www.shottaculture.com or on my Facebook page.

Get your copy of Shotta Culture via iTunes

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