WhereItzAt Magazine - November 2013

Page 38

enTerTainMenT I Am Reggae Music, I Am K Vibes

By Reid Taylor There is no such thing as an overnight sensation. But when all at once your music is popping up on everyone’s playlist, it’s easy to forget the years of hard work that got you there. For Karen “K Vibes the Brick Rose” Morrison now is the right time. She has releases with significant producers, starting way back with Sir Tommys and Digital English, and coming present day with Computer Paul and King Jammys. Right now she is getting heavy airplay with two singles released in this last month: “Can You Love Someone”, for Computer Paul, and “Reggae Music (I Am)” for King Jammys; add to the mix this past summer’s, “Pull Up” for I Love Sound, and it’s a K Vibes vibration, and it’s ALRIGHT! K Vibes started out in Brooklyn, where her family settled upon migrating from Jamaica and recorded first for her family member Sir Tommy, whose sound was an early Jamaican set rocking the BK. Sir Tommys studio was an intoxicating lure to K Vibes with all the activity and artists. One day she came armed with a poem, suggested lyrics for someone to voice. She laughs, recalling how Sir Tommy tricked her into her first singing, saying, “How’s it go… hum it… hum it LOUDER,” and finally, “Stop singing like you’re hungry!”

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That spark lit the fire-- “I had song writing fever, and I forced myself to go out and perform at least once a month,” K Vibes says, despite battling stage fright. It took a trip to Jamaica in 2007, where she was so popular with Jamaican audiences, for her to fully relax and become comfortable on-stage. So many fans saying to her, “I love your vibes”, gave birth to her stage name. Karen Morrison, meet K Vibes. Later she added Brick Rose to signify that she was a strong woman to be reckoned with. Through her friend, the singer Dona V, K Vibes was introduced to Clement Dodd, the scion of Jamaica’s premier record label, Studio One. “Sir Coxson” was so impressed he let her pick riddims to voice a whole album. Two acclaimed singles were released, “Frenemies” and, “Bye, Bye Rebel”. Unfortunately, Dodds death in 2004 prevented the LPs release. Jeff Sarge, host of WFMU’s Reggae Schoolroom, says, “Mr. Dodd had big plans for her.” Undaunted, K Vibes kept on recording and performing, always conscious of choosing the best producers to record with, picking the strongest riddims to sing on, and earning respect with her confidence and perfectionism. The legendary Anthony “Downbeat The Ruler” Rookwood was an early K Vibes fan; “I saw a vibes in her, saw a whole heap of talent from day one,” and admired how, “straight up” she was. K Vibes cut her very first dub plate for Downbeat, and they continue to have a very strong link. K Vibes loves to cite Sanchez, “My singer”, as her first real inspiration. She says her biggest influences are Dennis Brown, as a singer, and Beres Hammond, as a song-writer. Odd that a woman only names male influences? Not at all – “I wanted to sing like the singers I loved to listen to, like Dennis Brown.” So, in 2001 it was coming full circle for K Vibes to sing the track “Time” on Dennis Brown’s “Cheater” riddim for Clive Chin. Likewise, she jumped at the chance to pay homage to Beres by writing “Can You Love Someone” on his beloved “Double Trouble” riddim. “I love telling stories, so I tried to channel Beres, but from a

woman’s point of view,” she says. K Vibes is proud of her versatility, “I put no limits on myself or my material. I can be whatever the music calls for; everything from DJ, to SingJay, to Singer. I try to bring a different flavor, an authenticity because you can’t fool the massive.” She is especially happy with “Reggae Music (I Am)”. “It was a fun song to write. It came easily as I was just playing with words. To me it brings back memories; people are always talking about when dance was nice, and those vibes. Everyone loves reggae and I include everyone in it. It is all for one. It is exciting for me because everyone seems so excited by it. I can never finish it. General Trees featured me on Sturgav in Jamaica and they call for three forward!” In 2012 K Vibes The Brick Rose toured Belgium and France with Downbeat The Ruler performing in front of crowds as large as 20,000. She also linked with Owen Flynn of Chain Gang Records and started recording for her first LP, “Rose Among Thorns” to be released spring of 2014. With all the buzz that “Can You Love Someone” and “Reggae Music (I Am)” are generating, and the LP’s imminent release, it’s easy to imagine that K Vibes is poised on the verge of a breakthrough. No matter what happens, she says, “this is what I’ll be doing. Music is my life - it chose me. Singing is my passion.” It’s real satisfaction you hear in K Vibes voice when she speaks of Michael Palmer saying to her, “I used to come and hear you sing and you couldn’t sing, but you can sing now,” because it shows how much the rose has grown and is ready to bloom - some roses actually DO bloom overnight. For more information visit: www.kvibes.com


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