BY HOWARD CAMPBELL–
Observer senior writer–
Chrisinti —
It has been 14 years since Chrisinti released an album, and in that time the Jamaican music landscape has considerably transformed. But with Say Yes to Life , a 13-song set that came out in February, the singer moves with the times while sticking to his roots base.
Say Yes to Life is released on his Chrisinti Music label and distributed by Tuff Gong International. In an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week, he spoke about reasons for the gap between Again, his previous album.
“My reason for taking this long to record another album was to ensure that I would give my audience a great album and a captivating message that I believe the world is in need of today. My focus while I recorded this album was life and happiness in its entirety and to deliver the best album yet,” he said.
The title song offers some of that positive message and also collaborations with Chrisinti’s contemporary Jah Mason on Up, Up, Up; Gentleman on Struggle and Faith; Jahranimo ( Somewhere) and fellow Trench Town-ite Nesbeth, with whom he does How Come.
An interesting track on Say Yes to Life is Stay, a song made famous by Rihanna. Though roots-reggae is his signature, Chrisinti says the dynamics of the modern music business dictates that an artiste’s tastes are indiscriminate.
“ Stay is a song that I covered because the idea was given to me by a very important person in my life and I’m also a fan of Rihanna which made it fun to do. I added the saxophone in the beginning because the saxophone is my favorite instrument and I also added a twist of reggae to it,” he explained.
Over the years, he has recorded for a number of producers and companies including King of Kings for which he did a number of songs including Cry of The Needy and How Would it Be. His first album, Comfort my People, was released in 2002 by VP Records followed three years later by , on Eight76 Records.
Chrisinti does not believe recording for different producers hurt him, and is thankful that a hit song has not defined his 30-year career.
“If I should just narrow it down to only one song, I believe that I would be doing injustice to my music as there are many of my songs that have been doing great in different parts of the world,” he said.
There are plans for Chrisinti to tour the United States, Europe and Africa to promote say Yes to Life.
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