It has been 33 years since singer Zackious Cooper launched his career, and though his sound has evolved he has never abandoned a blueprint for recording and writing songs.
He called on that concept for the self-produced Love Someone, his latest song, which was released in December by his Cancer Music label.
“A good song has a memorable melody, with lyrics that are very relatable and can break down complicated emotions or situations in a simple way. It could also sound nice with great strings progression that make it soothing in your ear, and this is one of the reasons why I’m so involved in the production of my music,” said Cooper.
Love Someone is just one of the songs the Toronto-based Jamaican has released in recent months. Others include Sweet Loving and Fooling Around, as well as a cover of Gregory Isaacs’ All I Have is Love.
Cooper has lived in Canada for almost 30 years. He moved there shortly after his first song, Cocaine, was released in the United Kingdom in 1987.
Cocaine was co-produced by Louise Frazer-Bennett and Tony Owens, a stalwart of the UK reggae scene who famously managed Musical Youth when they hit with Pass The Dutchie in the early 1980s.
He recorded Cocaine as Anthony Cooper, his real name.
Cooper grew up in Maxfield Avenue, a tough, but musically-rich area of Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. Among his biggest influences was Isaacs, whose laid-back delivery on songs like All I Have is Love earned him the moniker, The Cool Ruler.
Given Isaacs’ impact on his career, he thought it fitting to cover one of his best-known songs.
“Gregory Issacs has been a very big influence in my music. I didn’t know I sounded like Gregory until one night I performed his hit song Love is Overdue at a stage show; the response from the audience was so overwhelming I thought a fight broke out in the crowd,” Cooper recalled. “The people ran towards the stage thinking it was Gregory, only to find out it was me. No one wanted me to leave the stage that night.”
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