Kashief Lindo—
BY HOWARD CAMPBELL–
Observer senior writer —
The racial turmoil that has divided the United States, especially in the past four years, weighs heavily on the minds of Kashief and Willie Lindo, the son-father duo who operate Heavybeat Records in Fort Lauderdale.
That friction is the focus of I Can’t See Your Face, Kashief’s latest song. Written by his father who also produced the single, it addresses what Lindo senior calls “the blatant racism” sweeping the US.
“Politician used to hide it one time, but now dem on TV with dem racism. Now, it don’t matter!” he said angrily. “Once it get to dat stage, anything can happen.”
Both Lindos created and played the music for I Can’t See Your Face which is a follow-up to songs with a similar message Kashief has released since 2019. Those songs include Till dem bun Down di House and Human Life which are from Justice: A Conscious Journey, his EP which came out in December that year.
Heavybeat Records has a reputation for churning out lovers rock hits, including What One Can Do by Beres Hammond, Since I’ve Been Loving You and Inseparable by Dennis Brown and I Wanna Wake up With You By Boris Gardiner. But Willie Lindo notes that the company has always taken on social issues.
“You will hear all kinda from us, wi not particular. Music is music…if wi si problems on di Earth wi have to address it,” he said.
I Can’t See Your Face is released this month, during another period of racial unrest in the US. The trial of Derek Chauvin — the white police officer charged with murdering black American George Floyd last May — is underway in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
That area is the site of another controversial police shooting last Sunday of a black man, Daunte Wright. Like Floyd’s death, it sparked protests and looting throughout Minneapolis.
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