United Reggae first heard of Chronixx when we interviewed Kabaka Pyramid in 2011. Fast forward two years and he is being tipped for stardom in 2013.
To those who know his story this is not so surprising. For 20 year old Jamar McNaughton – the son of singer Chronicle – has been involved in music since he was a seedling. The studio and the church choir were his playground, artists family friends, and he was producing and writing songs from a formative age.
Like Kabaka Pyramid and Protoje before him he has built his career simultaneously at home (recording with local production house Zinc Fence) and abroad (voicing with European label Special Delivery and the USA’s Major Lazer).
When the Jamaican press began to take serious notice at the tail end of 2012 we decided it was time to link him. By then he had become a sensation – and an interview that would have been easy to get a few months ago became a tussle amid a media scrum. Nonetheless, Angus Taylor spoke to a young man fully aware of his potential fame and importance – and how transient it can be.
You were born in music. What advantages has that given you?
I think it has a lot to do with my appreciation of the whole history of Jamaican music and my applying these elements from the past into my music right now. When you grow up within the music and see what it takes to create a record and the power that a record has in it when it goes out to the people then you will treat and approach music in a whole different way. I have a different appreciation for music. Especially Jamaican music.
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