Mr. Easy

Mr Easy is a man over-flowing with music and melodies that deal with the more harmonious aspects of life and living. He was born twenty-eight years ago in the verdant, undulating hills of the Cockpit Country. The transition at the age of ten, for this country boy, to the cold, gray streets of New York City was not an easy rite of passage.

Life for Mr. Easy was not always as the name implies. Raised in the hard and fast city of New York but Jamaican born of African heritage somehow always seems to create a dilemma of the soul. On his arrival in New York City, Mr. Easy can still recalls how the tears flowed for months. He can call to mind how his elder brother and sister helped him to gain the strength of character and courage to adjust to city living, just has his mother had done when she struggled to provide a future for her children by building herself a career in medicine.

The ten-year-old from Trelawny soon settled into the lifestyle of a Jamaican in New York and by 1982, was helping “Sir Noel” set up his sound system. Easy joined the crew of DJ’s and experimented with some of the lyrics that he had been writing since he first went to high school. He soon began playing out at places like the Starlight Ballroom and singing songs made popular by Dennis Brown. One evening at the Starlight, his Aunt Bev introduced him to her friend, Barry, who just happened to be a record producer. A cover version of the Isley Brother’s hit “Caravan Of Love” recorded at Living Room studios was his first impression on vinyl. By the end of the 1980’s, Mr. Easy was not only writing material but he was also composing his own melodies.

Mr. Easy played and studied hard in the Big Apple, thereby gaining a wealth of experiences in a relatively short space of time. He cites Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Gladys Knight as well as Erik B and Rakim among his major musical influences. As a youth his dream was to conquer the crowd at New York City’s famous Apollo Theatre as nearly every solo singer that ventured onto that stage was booed off. Mr. Easy was more than successful. Easy recounts how Sidney Mills, the keyboard player from Steel Pulse, helped him to write “Just Be A Lady” and how he sang out for all he was worth. The crowd went wild, they didn’t boo they clapped and cheered. Easy received congratulations and encouragement from people like Patti LaBelle and Quincy Jones. The result of this early success was a record deal with Motown Records and the release of Mr. Easy’s first album.

Extensive touring of the United States, Japan and the Caribbean followed with fellow Jamaican artists such as; Beres Hammond, Shinehead, Red Fox and Shaggy. It was while he was working on his never to be released second album for Warner Brothers with Mickey Bennett that he met Dave Kelly and a long-term alliance was formed. At that time there seemed to be a need to win over a homeland audience that is like none other in the world.

For Mr. Easy, as well as many exiled Jamaicans, there always seems to remain a need for recognition in the homeland especially since the loss of his father. For a Jamaican, you could have conquered the globe, but if you’ve never had a major hit in the homeland – you just haven’t truly made it.

Easy feels that the experiences of performing and recording in New York combined with maintaining a working base in Jamaica has enabled a crystallization of ideas to take place where he can let his creativity shine. Since dedicating himself to years of recording with top producers like Dave Kelly, the melodic quality of Mr. Easy’s voice has been in much demand. Songs like; “Mi Haffi Stop” on the Showtime riddim, “Man Ah Say A Who” on the Rae Rae riddim, “Funny Man” on the Joyride riddim, “Freaky Lady” on the Juice Riddim, “Herbs Haffi Bun” on the Intercourse riddim, “After All” on the Thunder riddim, “Haters” on the Orgasm riddim, “Oil Up” on the Triology riddim featuring General Degree all helped to solidify Mr. Easy as one of the top 15 artists to voice.

Mr. Easy’s smooth flow allowed him to take a new musical direction with songs; “Up And Down” featuring Sean Paul on the Two Hard label and “Freaky Kind Of Lady” produced by Richard Browne on the ‘Call Me Shams’ label. As well as “I’ll Always Be There”, a lovers rock tune on the Rockaway riddim produced by Beres Hammond for the Harmony House Label. For a brief period of time Easy focused on Lovers Rock releases that allowed him to expand as an artist and vocally.

Still juggling making music in Jamaican and refining it in the USA with performances in New York, Los Angeles and Caribbean has been rewarding. Ironically, Mr. Easy is a child of the process by which Jamaican music is currently influencing the globe: germinated or made in Jamaica but grown, refined and packaged in the USA.

In order to maintain a positive focus from time to time, Mr. Easy gets out of Kingston City by taking a drive out to ‘Peter Tosh’ country in Westmoreland whe