THE SOUND OF STONEBRIDGE
A run-down area of social-housing in the Harlesden area of north-west
London, the Stonebridge estate had by the turn of the millennium
achieved quite a notoriety for unemployment, drugs and guns. But
despite – or even, because - of these negative factors, it also spawned
a lively music scene, drawing from dancehall, garage and hip-hop.
Central to this sonic melange has been the Suncycle project, founded by
the deejay Chukki Star’s enterprising cousin Chad Williamson, aka
Dolamite.
With tunes like “Agony” and “Thug Life”,
Dolamite has proved himself a convincing deejay in the rockstone-voiced
tradition of Burro Banton/Nicodemus, but the most successful of the
performers to have emerged from this large collective of over fifteen
members has been Gappy Ranks (b. Jacob Lee Williams).
In common with many of his Jamaican
counterparts, Gappy Ranks had a decidedly precocious start in music,
recording with the highly-rated Ruff Cut Band when only 11.
Despite experiencing considerable hardships after leaving school,
including a spell of homelessness, he went on to develop his talent
with the Suncycle crew. It was there that he came into contact with
Cash Money and Redman (the UK rappers, not the American hip-hop
legends), with whom he was to collaborate on “Less Informer” over
Germaine Forde’s lethal “Taliban” rhythm, recorded at the Stingray
studio in 2002 (as was the equally strong “Taliban Slam” cut, the most
impressive General Levy outing since the erstwhile Tipatone, Vigilante
and Java deejay’s initial hits of the early 1990s for south London’s
Fashion outfit).
Gappy’s subsequent “Mountain Top” and “Heaven
in My Eyes” for the Peckings camp in west London significantly
broadened his appeal, as did 45s for other UK-based imprints, including
Maximum Sound, Stingray, Ajang and Charm. Nevertheless it was the
masterful Put the Stereo On album produced by the Peckings brothers for
Greensleeves that really brought his talent to the attention of the
wider world.
Another talented figure Gappy
Ranks surely came into contact with as part of the Suncycle crew was the
singer Tubby T (b. Anthony Johnson), a legend on the local dancehall
scene, though sadly under-recorded when he suffered a stroke in 2004,
subsequently passing away in hospital. The best example of
Tubby’s work on record for those who never had the pleasure of hearing
him live in a dance remains the bleakly realistic “Tales of the Hood”,
a combination effort with Cash Money and Redman, which appeared on the
other side of Gappy’s “Less Informer” 45 for Germaine’s Forde’s Ajang
label. Nevertheless, a couple of his releases on Jamaican
imprints are also well worth checking – “Ready She Ready”, on the flip
of Bounty Killer’s “Healing” (Big League), and employing a sonorous
Jazzwad rhythm, “Misery” (Stardom Product).
A further indication of the Suncycle
crew’s
credibility on the global dancehall scene was the willingness of
veteran Jamaican dancehall star Spragga Benz to contribute to their
Levels (Brokwile Part 3) album, a collection that also includes
offerings from such Stonebridge stalwarts as Gappy Ranks, Dolamite,
Shortie Kwarmz (only 10 years of age at the time of the recording!),
Kanny Kedar, Carla Marie, Redman, Vigilante, Sarita, Veno Floss and
Cash Money. Silver Star, a top London sound system with an
international following, then added another 48 tracks to the original
23 for their megamix version of the set, and brought in the likes of
Super Sass, Ashai, Landa Boo and Armani to give a pretty comprehensive
overview of the considerable musical riches that this one area of
north-west London has to offer.
Peter Dalton
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