By Yasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer—-

Richie Spice has pledged his allegiance to the “true reggae”.—-

Reggae warrior Richell Bonner, better known as Richie Spice, has made many a trek through various parts of the world on his intriguing musical journey, and his several experiences have led him to fully contemplate the theme of unity on his upcoming album. Entitled Together We Stand, the project tells the story of his commitment to the creative processes involved in providing uplifting, message music.

Well aware of his fans’ complaint that this album has been far too long in the making – his last project was the self-produced, acoustic offering, Soothing Sounds (2012) – Spice has teamed up with ‘A’ list producers to deliver what he says will be another worthy effort.

Not surprisingly, he has on board ace producer and multiinstrumentalist Clive Hunt, with whom he worked on his debut album, Universal, for Island Jamaica and which spawned his breakthrough hit, the Hunt-produced Grooving My Girl.

Spice has also reached out to another longtime collaborator, the experienced audio engineer, keyboardist, and producer, Steven Stanley, whose credits include work on Black Uhuru’s Grammy award-winning album, Anthem, which he co-produced with Sly and Robbie, and Sean Paul’s 2004 Grammy album, Dutty Rock. Norman ‘Bulpus’ Bryan, a producer with tremendous street creds and who produced the collaborative single Unity We Need, by Richie Spice and Chronixx in 2018, is also comfortably on board.

FULFILLING A PROMISE

“This album is a priority. We have been promising the people for a long time,” the singer from the talented Bonner family, which includes Spanner Banner, Pliers (of Chaka Demus and Pliers), and Snatcher Lion told The Gleaner.

“The title is all about working together. Whether it is on Labor Day, a community project, or something bigger. It is important to make that effort to unite. In these times, we are fighting all kinds of spiritual, physical, and mental warfare, and it is too easy to get scattered,” said the Gideon Boot singer.

Stating that the album, which is scheduled for a March 2020 release, will be “no more than 14 tracks,” he also revealed that the first single, the title track, can be found on VP Records’ Strictly The Best 60 compilation. An accompanying music video for Together We Stand is also in the works and the artiste is highly anticipating this release. His last music video was two years ago for the song Where There’s A Will.