A “SURPRISED” DUCKIE SIMPSON, FOUNDER OF BLACK UHURU, PREDICTS HIS GROUP WILL WALK AWAY WITH ITS SECOND GRAMMY AWARD!

Associate Editor —

Confessing he is surprised by Black Uhuru’s Grammy nomination in next year’s Best Reggae Album category, founder Duckie Simpson is confident the group will have its second lien on the coveted trophy.

“Wi a go tek it! Mi feel is time fi a group win it again,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday while lauding the other nominees.

“Mi neva did a pene(trate) Grammy when mi a record the album. But wi put in a whole heap of work in the last five years inna California… Wi outta dem place deh like New Zealand and Europe. Wi active in the world,” he continued.

Black Uhuru is nominated for its 15-track project As The World Turns, released on September 7.

According to Simpson, the set is different from previous Uhuru albums.

“This is the first CD (album) with Duckie upfront (on lead vocals)… It’s hard core,” he said.

The set boasts collaborations with Prezident Brown, Agent Sasco and Bugle. Executively produced by Mike Gener and Simpson, As The World Turns features keyboard player Horace Campbell, guitarist Leebert “Gibby” Morrison, and Nichole “Nikki” Burton on vocals. It was mixed by his stepson Jermaine Forde.

 

“The album yah very special to me… working with Jermaine and the team. Jermaine help open my music to a younger generation. He is the person behind the ‘collab’ with Bugle on Jah Guide. Bugle and Jermaine tight. Big up Sasco too; a my deejay that quietly. A six years ago mi and Prezident Brown record the song Live and Learn,” he said.

Black Uhuru was formed in Waterhouse in 1972. Simpson, Michael Rose and American Puma Jones comprised the most successful line-up from the late 1970s to 1985, when Rose left and was replaced by Junior Reid.

In 1985 the group etched its name in the history books by winning the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Reggae Recording for the album Anthem.

The group’s hit songs include Solidarity, Shine Eye Gal, Plastic Smile, What Is Life?and Guess Whose Coming to Dinner.

Earlier this year Simpson and Rose were locked in a legal tussle over the name Black Uhuru. The matter is still in the courts.

“Everything look good,” said Simpson about the case.

The other nominees in a competitive Best Reggae Album field are Reggae Forever by Etana, 44/876 by Sting and Shaggy, Rebellion Rises by Ziggy Marley, and A Matter of Time by Protoje.

The Grammy Awards will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10, 2019.