Ammoye and Rise Ashen

By Daniel Sylvester
Electronic music has always been a blend of genres: Krautrock, plus funk, equals techno; drum & bass, plus ambient, equals IDM; dub, plus two-step, equals dubstep. So it's no surprise when 21st century artists like Ammoye and Rise Ashen come onto the scene, crafting music that pulls from so many worldly sounds. Haffi Win (the first collaboration between Clarendon, Jamaica reggae chanteuse Ammoye and Ottawa, ON DJ Rise Ashen) shows the duo perusing dance genres like records through a milk crate. On songs like "Coming Up" and the title track, Ammoye busts out melodies that come off confident and gallant while Rise Ashen stylishly keeps his beats controlled and high-concept. "New Recipe" slinks in a breathy-funky way that wouldn't sound out of place on a Rihanna album, while "So Good" comes off all low-end, chop shop hip-hop. Although so much ground is covered on Haffi Win, Ammoye and Rise Ashen posses the wherewithal to know their core audience, backpacks and all.
(Balanced) - Exlaim

Haffi Win is the first joint full length venture from Ammoye and Rise Ashen’s and is due to be released on 17th September on Balanced Records.
Producer, musician, DJ and dancer Eric Vani (Rise Ashen) supplies the album with a mix of very infectious urban bass throbbing beats and hypnotic melodies from a mix of dancehall and dub reggae infused with hip hop and house, that creep into your psyche, while Ammoye, born and raised in Clarendon JA before moving to Canada, effortlessly enchants listeners with her smooth and easy soulful style.
The lyrical content of these songs are full of consciousness that tells stories of our choices on love, life, justice and how the choices we make can shape us as we either surrender to the challenges they bring or we fight through for what we want and believe to be right.
Standout tracks for me are pulsing title track ‘Haffi Win’, tribalish and trance like ‘Till The Soil And Beat The Drum’, the graceful ‘Bluebirds’ and the extremely clubby ‘Your Love’.
This is an album that most probably won’t appeal to hardened reggae fans, but will appeal hugely to a crossover audience who’ll like it’s very modern and at times R&B feel.
A fine album that will have you grooving, chilling and thinking with equal measure. - Springline Jamaica

? HOTTTTT New Dancehall! ? Ammoye and Rise Ashen - Mad Dem!
Greetings!

Ammoye has done it again! Hotter than
100 pepper seed's, Ammoye teams with
Rise Ashen (the same Rise Ashen who
remixed Trouble) to complete an album
called 'Haffi Win.'

The album is a nice musical array of Reggae
fused with Dancehall and Roots. Lyrically,
Ammoye deals with the case wickedly on
all chunes, especially "Mad Dem!" Whoiii!

Sample the lyrics: Coca Cola bokkle shape /
ah it ah guh mad yuh / peppa all around mih
back / ah it ah guh mad yuh / spice hot hot
hot hot / ah it ah guh mad yuh / you won't
get another bite...

Now set those lyrics to a pounding beat of
'one, two, three,' and a hyperactive beat per
minute, and you have the recipe for a ridiculously
HOTTTT Dancehall chune froma chick who
rides the riddim tighter than a vice grip (did
I really just say that?!)! Lawd!

This is a chune you definitely don't want to miss.
Whether Radio, Dancehall, Club or mixtape,
don't sleep, pause or blink, and don't say I
didn't tell you!

Broadcasting at 320kbps, catch Ammoye
and Rise Ashen with the chune "Mad Dem"
here:

P.S. As you read this (provided that you're
reading it on June 29th), Ammoye is performing
live in China for international delegates from
around the world! She will also be performing
at the 3rd Annual Ottawa Reggae Festival. More
details to come! - The Famous Face

If you dig into the canadian reggaescene there is one name that you will definetly discover really quick: Ammoye. Ammoye has worked with Juno award winning artists Dubmatix and Michael Buble, as well as Kreesha Turner, Corey Lee, Anjulie and Najja Calibur of Najjah's World, and others including Rise Ashen for their debut release "Haffi Win" (Balanced Records). Toronto based Ammoye is a multi-genre vocalist and therefore at home in different musical genres such as Reggae, R'n'B and Hip Hop. A unique voice and a style that can deal with a variety of music makes her special!

When you were young you emigrated to Toronto with your mother. What were your first impressions of the cultural differences between Jamaica and Canada?

My first impression when I first arrived in Canada was how multicultural it was - all the different races and cultures. It was exciting for me and I couldn't wait to start my new life in this new world. You see up until that point I had only interacted with 1 caucasian person ever. Most of the time I would only see them on TV. In Jamaica most of the people looked just like I did and so honestly I never considered race until I came to Canada. Seeing and interacting with all the different races here, was new but exciting and enlightening learning experience. Canada being so multicultural definitely made an impact on me and affected my life in a very positive way. My music shows that because it has so many influences in there. Reggae, house, dance, Hip Hop, R'n'B, Soul and more.

Since you grew up in Jamaica, Clarendon to be precise, you got in touch with reggae, dance hall and hip hop. Then living in Canada you opened your own music towards rock and soul music. So by now you are including even more different musical influences in your music. Does this versatility have some-thing to do with not wanting to be compartmentalized or categorized?

Yes, a little bit. I don't want to be put in a box and told to conform to someone else's idea of who and what an artist should be. I love music, all kinds of different styles of music. They all inspire and influence me in different ways and so that colors my music and makes it what it is and how you hear me deliver it. The music I create I call it Jamma, to me that means Jamaican flava meets North American influenced style of music. Its eclectic, diverse, hard, rough, smooth, spiritual and full of honest emotions.

Coming back to Reggae and Dancehall. You are based in Toronto and are among the most active artists in the city. How would you describe the present reggaescene concerning artists and audiences. Is there a community thing going on?

Yes, there is definitely a community thing as you call it going on here in Toronto when it comes to the reggaescene. Most of the veteran reggae artists like Beres Hammond, Barrington Levy, Sly and Robbie and people like Marcia Griffith, just to name a few, still play to sell out shows here very regularly. As well there are always concerts being held across the city every several months featuring all kinds of various reggae artists brought up from Jamaica or other parts of the world to perform. Most times when these concerts are held they're sold out. However Reggae for some reason still remains more underground than mainstream. Reggaesongs are not consistently being played on mainstream radio here in Toronto, but I do see it growing and changing for the better each year.

Who would you point out as the main actors in Toronto's reggae scene?

For me personally in the reggaescene here in Toronto right now are people like Dubmatix, Steele, Tanya Mullings, Carl Henry, Friendlyness and Human Rights as well as Artist like Humble who are the main actors on the scene currently. These names you hear all the time.


Jay Douglas and Ammoye (Foto: Roger Humbert)

I have seen a picture of you and Jay Douglas, a Toronto based veteran, performing on stage. What do you admire most about this exceptional artist?

I love Jay's wisdom and humility as a well seasoned artist. He gave me valuable advise pertaining to the business side of things and he's very sincere and giving when he performs. He always performs effortlessly and makes it all looks so easy, a natural.

Which artists would you consider as mentors for yourself – from early childhood up to today?

Ohh, I love this question because I get a chance to talk about my biggest influence when it comes to music, Bob Marley! He is my biggest mentor. I love and respect his writing, him as a performer, a man that had no issues with standing up and representing for equal rights and justice. He was a teacher and a philosopher to me. I am definitely aspired by him to write timeless songs like he did and be an instrument of love and hope for my people and all people bringing us together through music like he did. Other mentors for me in music are people like Sade, Lauryn Hill, Regina Belle, Anita Baker, Eryka Badu, Beyonce, Micheal Jackson, Carlene Davis, Whitne - Irie Ites

Rise Ashen is on the rise again.

The multitasking, talented Ottawa B-Boy and DJ has a knack for reinventing himself every decade. Eric Vani, aka Rise Ashen, keeps rising out of the ashes.

Ashen is launching Haffi Win, a new disc of beat-crazy dance music recorded with Version Xcursion vocalist Ammoye, Friday at the Mercury Lounge.

Recorded and produced in Ashen’s home studio, Haffi Win (Jamaican for “have to win”) is a sexy, funky dancehall record — one that took the prolific, and pioneering DJ five years to write and produce.

“Some of the beats I’ve been working on since 2005,” he declares. “That’s DJ-ing. Most everything I’ve done has been solo. Sometimes it’s easier to produce with other people in mind because you eliminate all the infinite possibilities you want. But I can get pretty intense when I’m remixing.”

While there’s been a sharp rise in the number of DJs and bands who romanticize vinyl, Ashen, 35, who cut his teeth as one of Ottawa’s first superstar DJs, loves the new digital technology.

“I’m a luddite when it comes to some technology, but recording equipment today sounds great and is so portable. Some people in the industry will only use analogue equipment, but really, the quality of recordings was pretty awful.”

That’s when Ashen shares one of his secrets. When he’s mixing MP3 or CDs, he’ll sometimes add layer and layer of that crunching sound a record makes on a turntable.

“It sounds a bit like an ocean. People find it soothing.” Then, he remembers something the American DJ R. Chris Murphy said many years ago.

“Getting excited about the gear in a studio is like getting excited about the knives and forks in a restaurant.”

Since the late-1980s, Ashen’s released seven solo CDs, three dozen 12” remixes and countless mixed CDs with Juno award winner Miguel Graca, Fred Everything, Trevor Walker, Blissom and Teknostep. His music has appeared on the compilations of renowned DJs like Rainer Truby and Roger Sanchez, and has been played by the likes of Masters at Work, Gilles Peterson, Maurice Fulton, Bonobo, 0db, Jimpster and Ted Patterson.

“Recording is going to be a lot like desktop publishing in the 1980s when everyone was going to write and publish their own book. Yes, the technology is getting better, but you still have to do something great.”

denis.armstrong@sunmedia.ca
- Ottawa Sun