JoJo Mac had never recorded a Ska song before but there was no anxiety when she did Ready To Fight, a horn-hooked toe-tapper that recalls the genre’s heyday.
She co-wrote the single with Winston Solomon, who is also its producer.
Ready To Fight was released by Fire N Ice Records on January 8.
The Philadelphia-based JoJo Mac first pitched the song to another producer some years ago, but that collaboration failed to materialize due to creative differences.
“I actually changed some of the words for the song after I decided to record it for myself… I added the ‘fools and clown’ to it. Also, it is the first time I sang in a major key. This song was done in E Major. Never tried that before. I love that the more time passes the more I find new gears vocally and this song is one of those,” she said.
The beat was programmed by Donovan “DJ Snake” Simmonds out of New York. For an authentic vocal sound, JoJo Mac recalled her time recording at Studio One in Kingston, one of the locations that made Ska famous in the early 1960’s.
“I thought about (producer) Coxson Dodd while doing this song. When doing the background I was channeling the great Marlene Webber and the late Jennifer Lara. I learned to do background vocals from them while working with Studio One. I thought about, ‘would it make Mr. Dodd proud’? That’s the standard,” she said.
Her eight-month stay at Studio One in Kingston resulted in 22 songs for Dodd which were never released. Dodd died in 2004.
JoJo Mac has also toured and recorded with Black Uhuru and released a number of songs as a solo act for producers including Solomon, who is writer and co-writer of Dem A Bleach by Nardo Ranks and Murder She Wrote by Chaka Demus and Pliers.
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