General Levy

While early Jungle music tended to be either instrumental or driven by samples, a growing number of songs in the style are incorporating sung vocals. One of the first was "Incredible," which teamed up M-Beat and ragga artist General Levy. But Levy's venture into Jungle was not a one-time thing, as the singer is continuing to make it a part of his music. Levy is currently working on an new album for FFRR that will feature such producers as Sly and Robbie, M-beat,New Blood, and Formation Records.

What was it about Jungle that made you want to incorporate it into your own music?

"Basically, the beats and the grooves, it was the energy, a good vibe and a good feel. Plus, it complemented my style of DJing, the way that I write and deliver my lyrics. It felt comfortable"

Before you actually worked with M-Beat they had sampled your voice for their music. What was your opinion on what they did?

"When I heard what they did, I found it quite clever the way they'd taken sections of my songs and incorporated it into theirs. I find it quite complimentary. The only thing was that the songs they were using were old songs, so I said 'oh, what would happen if we linked up and we did it live.' They weren't really making a bag of money off of it, it was like an underground circuit with no vast amount of money being made. So I didn't feel the need to seek any money out of it, it was more of a vibe. So we linked up and we did an official tune."

Since itŐs very common for Jungle track with vocals to just sample them from other songs, what effect do you think it has had on the evolution of the music?

"They were attracting people from the original music, like me for instance. If I didn't hear any reggae in certain jungle tunes I wouldn't have been so attracted to it. So it actually worked to be beneficial, but some people looked at it to be a disrespect to the original musician because they might prefer the original song. But for me personally, I find it to be more of a compliment. It helps to widen the scope a little bit as well."

When you do a collaboration like the one with M-Beat, what is the process for creating a track?

"Basically, I'll have a song already written and we'll build a beat to design the tune around and put down the voice and a sketch to the rhythm. As long as there's a sketch of the rhythm track, I can ride that and build up the track around the voice."

WhatŐs in the future for you?

"We're working on the album and have about half of it virtually done already. Since "Incredible" I've released another single called 'Rumble in the Jungle' featuring me and Top Cat. That came out in November in England, I'm not sure if it will be coming out in the States because that's not on FFRR."

Can you describe the album?

"It will be original ragga, dance style tunes, jungle and some hip hop."

Since you work with a variety of producers, how do you decided who to use?

"Sometimes producers will hook up with me, and say 'yeah we've got a rhythm track we'd like you to hear' and I'll go listen to the tracks and if it sounds good we'll do something. Sometimes I will link up with a producer for a vibe, sometimes the management links up sessions and we work from there."

What got you into this kind of music in the first place?

"I like the character of DJs, it's like a role, the master of ceremonies. I really liked the way that someone would control the mic, and I like rhyming, and it's a good vibe. Everyone in my area was into reggae music, and everybody wanted to be number one."