By Joana LeRoque for Reggae Festival Guide
RFG: Please tell our readers about your newest song
WS:My latest single “Raise It” was released August 2 and is available in all online stores. I felt like it was most appropriately this song starting off with Dr Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech is most appropriate to the stet the stage for the message of the song. The track was co-produced by myself, Clifton “Johnny” Clarke and Aston Barrett Jr. I wanted to bring some modern elements to this track to appeal to a cross generation of Roots Reggae and trap/dubstep lovers. Raise it was mixed by the Grammy award winning engineer Rohan Dwyer. Rohan is one of two Grammy allstars on this cast. Aston Barrett Jr. leader of the wailers is also a winner at this level. He brought the bass and production direction. The real magic on this track is marriage of the music and melodic and lyrical flow. The concrete jungle-like slide guitar is the icing on the cake.
RFG: What motivates you to create music?
WS: I see music as a Levite calling so when I create music I do it with a deep sense of responsibility. King David wrote a legacy of music that today we call the book of Psalms. It serves as a tower of strength and daily bread for us thousands of years after the king passes on, That’s the power of music! I aspire to leave my best and most inspired scrolls when I move on to Zion. So, every song l write is either a message of praise, faith, hope, joy, love or addressing some injustice in the world we live in today. The introduction line in the song “Raise it” reveals in my first statement the burning issue of this age: twisted morality and values. Our generation have become so selfish that we have made it legal to murder babies in the name of preserving life. We have desecrated the basics of Yah’s creation by turning away from the creation version of family. We have cops killing black men in the name of law and order. “Everything that’s wrong they have made right and everything that right they have made wrong”. The laws of men in this time opposes the laws of Yah. We who are children of the light need to speak up the the babies who can speak. We need to Speak up for the teenage boys incarcerated and thrown in modern day slaver in the United States …to name a few issues.
RFG: What’s your Dream collaboration ?
WS: My dream collaboration would probably be a collaboration with either Damian Marley, Kirk Franklin, Chris Tomlin, Lecrae, or Buju.
RFG: Where have u performed before?
WS: I’ve Toured the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
Click here to watch the official video for “Rais It”
Download “Raise It”: https://waynestoddart.hearnow.com
SoundCloud: Https://SoundCloud.com/waynestoddart
ISRC Code: Ushm21983462
Social Media:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/wayne_stoddart
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waynestoddartmuzik/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/waynestoddart
YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/waynestoddart
