Red Rat

"Interview with RED RAT"

Written by Maya and Patricia

Jamaican reggae star Red Rat is known for dancehall Hits like “Shelly Ann”, “Tight Up Skirt”, and “Rubber Waist” and on November 26, 2002 he came to the bay area for a show at the Justice League were he played a hot and cozy concert of his best known hits. Red Rat, the falsetto of the reggae superstars showed off his versatility—ad libbing at will and gyrating his waistline to no end. But just before all of that Red Rat took the time to sit down with jouvay.com to give us the low down on what it’s like in his Caribbean world where reggae butts up with soca and, surprisingly, Michael Jackson. Read on….

Jouvay.com: So, we’re some big soca heads on Jouvay.com. When did you start working with Machel Montano?

Red Rat: It was 1998/99 with “Rubber Waist”. It was the first time I meet
him. The vibe clicked. To me him a cool dude. Meh rate him. We met in
Jamaica. He was doing an album with VP and VP referred him to Danny Browne
who was my manager at the time and we just hook up.

J: Are you with VP now?

RR: No, I have my own record company. Me and my manager Delroy Scofferey
start our own company Rat-a-Kastle Records. We’re signing a few
artists.

J: Are they mainly reggae?

RR: Not necessarily. Right now we have 2 DJs, a singing group called QT…to
me is the best singing group I hear in a long long time. Since Boyz to Men.

J: Better than TOK?

RR: Much much better than TOK. TOK know them. TOK love them and rate them.
They came out the same time, but TOK was a dancehall act, they are more R
and B-ish.

J: Really. When’s the album going to drop?

RR: I’m working on that now. Hopefully sometime next year in the summer or
something.

J: So you’re doing a lot of business stuff?

RR: Well, I’ve been a producer from 1998/99 so I start my record company and all so I thinking like a business man, but I am still an artist. I started the Rat-a-Kastle records earlier this year. But I had my own record label which was Brat camp which most of my songs came out on.

J: So, on your site you say you took time off to finish school because that’s what your dad wanted.

RR: I finished school, gave him my diploma and now I am doing my thing. He
was a musician too. He used to play for Byron Lee and the Dragoinaires. He
produced one of their albums. I grew up on soca till I tired of soca. I love soca though.

J: So where this tourist dance come from? (a dance he had the crowd in Miami doing).

RR: One day I was just in Montego Bay in the hotel watching the tourist people dancing to reggae music and I’m wondering what them listening to cause it’s not the rhythm and it’s not the words, so what them dancing to and meh realize dem just dance to what dem feel comfortable to. It’s not any on-time dance, you just dance anyway you want to
dance.

J: Yeah, we just could not get off beat. It’s hilarious. You’re planning on doing a song with Machel for 2003?

RR: The song with Machel will just be a hot hot hot hot calypso song. I’d probably produce it, but me want him do it cause him know more bout soca than I do. I produced a soca track last year called “Another Man’s Partner” but it did not take off as
well as I thought it would. It was me, Spragga Benz, Machel and Buccaneer.

J: Serious. We never heard about it.

RR: I sent it to the radio stations in Trinidad but it did not pick up. So we did not put it out. I might put it out again. Not on my album, but…is a real soca track.

J: How it goes? Ohhh Noo.

RR: Nah. Let me see. The hook goes like “Fling it up pon another man partner fling it up pon another man partner”. Somebody teach me something bout carnival. Once carnival time, if you wid somebody forget about it. Once carnival come you go dance wid who you want dance with and she go dance with who she want dance wid.
After carnival done everything done. You back to yuh spouse again.

J: You have your own label. It’s the same thing with Rupee. He did his last CD. That would be someone to work with.

RR: Who Rupee? Me and him talking bout it. Rupee would be someone cool to work with. He is cool cool cool. I rate him man. We talking bout it, I have to come up with the concept. I came up with the concept for Rubber Waist. I have another track for carnival with ammm, should I should I not?

J: With whom?

RR: With am, Alison and Denise. It’s called threesome.

J: Oh gosh they’re going to kill you.

RR: Alison has the best waistline I’ve ever seen in my life.

J: Alison has the best bumper. Go on jouvay.com and see. Denise Belfon can wine. That’s going to be hilarious. You between the two of them.

RR: I’ll be right in the middle. I don’t care if they kill me. We’re talking about it. Yeah, I’ll be really lost. But don’t take me that simple.


J: So, you just did the Reggae Fest.

RR: The Reggae Fest in Miami was the biggest show I ever see in Miami with about 20,000 people. And Machel and Denise th - Jouvay.com

September 18, 1998

As the saying goes "what drop off a head fall pon shoulder." This would be the sentiments surrounding the growing market for Reggae music in Africa. Immunization shots and all, Mainstreets Crew’s top acts, Red Rat and Goofy, will be performing Saturday, September 19 in the Logogo Cricket Grounds, Uganda to satisfy the insatiable hunger these Africans have for rat. Red Rat that is.

“Anything with Red Rat sells like hot bread down there,” said Mainstreets Danny Brownie in response to interests for going to Africa, made possible by an African-based company the Life Mama Promotion limited, Red Rat and Goofy are currently quite popular on Uganda’s radio stations and are supplying the Burundi people with their records and lyrics in that country.

The Logogo Cricket Grounds is said to have a capacity level of over 100,000 and was the venue that included breathtaking performances by Grammy Kid Shabba Ranks, and bombastic Shaggy. Uganda has also seen performances by DJ Buju Banton last year. All entertainers that went before drew a good crowd inside the grounds.

Backed by Ruff Kutt, Mainstreet and Red Rat will make an awesome entry into the grounds, anticipated to create an impressive hype. It’s not a bird, it’s not a plane, no its Red Rat being flown into the stadium via helicopter looking like what his mentor Shabba Ranks did when he made his debut their sometime ago. Then he will maintain the hype with recent and old singles, all part of his LP’s that are selling like hot bread in Uganada.

Goofy, Rat’s partner in crime, collaborating together in a few singles, will be releasing his debut album in November and is expected to make it a sellout even before it his the road. How will he do that? Welol, each performance leading up to its release seems to be bigger and better than the one before. Japansplash and a Eastern Caribbean tour, their last stops before this one, was knockout, so Africa should be the bomb.

Featured on the album entitled I Don’t Give a Damn’ are other mainstreet acts Crissy D and Red Rat. Also on the LP in ace deejay Beenie Man and songbird sensation Sanchez. The local Walt Disney icon enjoys a repute as a gimmicks deejay, suing the trademark and name of that clumsy cartoon character.

As part of the entertainment package, Uganada’s male audience will experience the dancehall queen herself along with her Slam dancers doing their choreographed dancing of, in Jamaican terms ‘go-go’ dancing.

“Once the LP becomes available then we get calls to come perform,” said Danny Brownie as to where the Crew will be heading next. Well they have been exporting records to Australia, so who knows?
- By Julian Smith

Loud screams, constant radio presence and a lot of club stops heralded Red Rat, Curtis Lynch Jnr and Kele Le Roc’s Recent tour of England, as Telstar Records brought the three together to promote their hot single “Thinking of you.”

Produced by Curtis Lynch, “Thinking of You” is currently creating a storm in England with heavy rotation on the airwaves, with its music video constantly in your face.

It was one hectic week for the trio as they hopped from one venue to another, doing constant radio interviews in between. Among the promotional activities was a regional radio day where listeners were encouraged to call in and rap with Red Rat and his team.

They kicked of performances at the Lord of the Underground, a garage club in London, England on Saturday, August 26, where the little red bwoy mash up di place. But this was just the warm up as they prepared for two days of Nottinghill Carnival. Their Nottinghill Carnival appearance was nothing short of exhilarating. Their first stop was at the Touch/Mastermind Stage, Sainsbury’s Car Park where they gave fans the best of themselves. Later, Rat and his crew headed to BBC Radio One where they performed with the likes of Common, Ideal, and Kandi (formerly of Escape).

The excitement continued at the MTV Lick Party, at the prestigious Hammersmith Palais Club. There, Rat performed for the likes of actor Samuel L. Jackson, who was in town. After working his closing set, Kelly and Curtis joined Rat on stage to unleash “Thinking of you.”

That same night they passed through the End Club (Twice as Nice) where all the celebrities were out having a real party. Rat, Curtis and Kelly unleashed their single. Then Spragga Benz and Sean Paul Joined them onstage for an awesome closing.

The fever picked up Monday, as the Carnival continued, on the MTV Base float, where Rat again set the place ablaze.

Later that night, They Stopped in at the Equinox, BBC Radio 1, for the Carnival after-party. Which saw Rat linking up with dancehall cronies Elephant Man, Sean Paul and Spragga Benz who were also in town doing some promotion. It was a total party vibe with Chris Goldfinger, Tim Westwood, De La Soul and others. But unfortunately the police came and locked down the event because they thought things were getting out of hand. Rat, Spragga and Elephant did not get to work.

But that did not put a cramp in the total party vibes Rat and his crew were having on the tour. They picked up momentum at Bigger Breakfast on Tuesday. After that they were unstoppable.

Among the radio stations visited where they did in-studio interviews were Gemini, Teleford FM, The Pulse FM, Wave 102, Centre FM, BBC Wales, 107.7 WFM, Power FM and BBC Nottingham.

“Thinking of You” is the first single from Telestar recording artiste Curtis Lynch Jnr.’s upcoming album ‘Guest List.’ Rat also got a chance to promote his upcoming album ‘I’m a big kid now,’ which is due out the end of this month on the Greensleeves Records Label.
- Xnews

Feb 24 1999
1st appearance in the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival with Machel Montano.

Trinidad was transformed into a sea of glorious colours as revelers got into the carnival groove. The Carnival spirit was high. Everyone was jumping and jamming to their favorite marching band. And in the midst of the sea of sweaty pulsating bodies was that little red bwoy, Red Rat.

From as early as 9:00 am Tuesday morning Red Rat was aboard the carnival truck with Machel Montano and his show band Xtatic touring the streets of Trinidad. While he wasn’t actually performing with Machel, he have his support by rocking, jigging and just jamming.

Machel Montano was awesome as he worked up a sweat belting out one hit song after another, making sure he fed the large throng that danced their way behind the truck.

Machel was like the pied piper, weaving a magic spell and keeping revelers in line. They couldn’t get enough of the taunting moves and swinging hips.

‘Rubber Waist,’ a combination with Red Rat and Machel dominated the Trinidadian charts – sitting comfortably atop for three consecutive weeks. It was little wonder when Red Rat teamed up with Machel to perform their hit single that the screams got louder.

Watching him you would not believe that it was the same artiste who earlier said he was “trying to hype up himself” and “a nuh really my ting dis.” You should have seen him on the roof of the truck, jumping, prancing and teasing the massives.

The shrill screams of adoring female fans could be heard as they stretched out hands to touch the object of their love. Red Rat reveled in it, taking time out to sign autographs, smiling at women blowing him kisses, then withdrawing as the more enthusiastic ones tried to drag him from the truck.

When the truck finally grinded to a halt, it was one tired Red Rat who made his way back to his hotel.

Speaking with him on his first Carnival performance, the artiste could barely manage a smile as he tried hard to keep back the yawn – sorry, he never uttered a word.

Well his tired state made more of a statement than he ever could. He really worked up a sweat. For those who missed him in action, gear up for Jamaica Carnival. Word is he will be making an appearance with Machel.
- Xnews