Song & Backstory Send Message to the Youth to Always Persevere, Be Strong and Stay Focused in the Face of Criticism.
The Brand-New Cham “I Don’t Care” music video project was made possible when producer Tullah Carter ran into a longtime acquaintance, Keith “K Dub” William, a legendary artist, former Oakland school educator, and local community activist who invited her family to his skateboard event at De Fremery Park in Oakland, CA earlier this year.
The opportunity to produce a video with Cham, (who is known in the Reggae world for his major hit song “Ghetto Story,” with Alicia Keys), was a blessing as he was the perfect artist to be featured in this music video. His own life’s struggles, as told through his music, speak to helping build-up underserved communities of young people around the planet. As a devoted husband and father, Cham is active with his son’s life, even on the soccer field, participating as a Soccer Dad.
The timing was perfect for his participation in the video as he was just releasing his long-waited CD, Lawless. The track “I Don’t Care” sends the timely message of “Be strong and focused in the face of criticism” that needs to be heard by anyone that is able to listen…especially our inner-city youth that face multiple challenges.
Ms. Carter was overwhelmed by the all of the effort that went into providing this group of diverse, underserved youth, (mostly boys and a couple of girls), a skateboarding event of such magnitude! It was like a “skateboard festival”. She knew K Dub was a master mixed-media fine artist, a mover-and-shaker from the Long Beach, CA community, and that he had been transplanted into the Oakland scene years ago, but it was her first time witnessing how he “got down” in the community with the kids, providing them a solid sporting activity in one of the most challenging neighborhoods of West Oakland.
The youth-oriented skateboarding event touched her own passion and she felt a strong desire to bring some attention to this project, the kids and a special place in Oakland called Town Park Skateboard Park. While sitting at the park, inspiration struck that she should produce a Reggae music video about K Dub’s kids while focusing on his larger-than-life mission of “giving back to the kids and providing a safe place to be afterschool”– thus keeping them off the street during a crucial time when bad things happen to innocent kids.
As with any successful endeavor the location is everything and is a big part of this story. K Dub consciously chose to build the skate park at the historical De Fremery Park, the former gathering site for the Black Panther Party over 50 years ago; symbolically, bits of Black Panther theme are used in the video, paying homage to the legacy of a struggle that is still going on.
Another major part of this Oakland-Jamaica-Reggae collaboration is Ms. Carter’s own back story. Being a hardcore Reggae lover/business woman/supporter for many, many years, she was inspired by the idea of tying this unique story together with the fabulous murals of Town Park serving as the backdrop, accompanied by the Reggae music of an authentic Jamaican Reggae Dancehall Artist – Cham a.k.a. Baby Cham.
You cannot create a world-class video without a world class film maker…and that is Benjamin Lidsky, whom Tullah met in Israel at the Reggae in the Desert Festival while shooting the “Make A Sacrifice” video with the Reggae artist Queen Omega. Ben’s energy, vision and generous spirit made it a magical experience (that is another story), so she knew then that she wanted to work with him again in the future, for he is a blessed individual. Again, with perfect timing and a major blessing, Ben was available to fly over and shoot the video.
Finally, all the people who collaborated to make this music video happen were all about Reggae music…from Oakland to Jamaica to Israel… at the end of the day, we really do “Rally round the Red, Gold, Black and Green”.
Video producer Ms. Tullah Carter has been active in the Reggae scene for decades with roles ranging from Visa Consultant to Artist Management..
Cham’s new album Lawless is available online & at record stores worldwide. Video Debuted on www.ReggaeVille.Com & Reggaeville’s Youtube Channel.
For more information, contact Tullah Carter, tullahcarter@gmail.com, 707-332-0747