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REVIEW IN ENGLISH:
SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall
AUTHOR: Teacha Dan
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Smiley is a new happy face on the Dutch reggae scene. He is not to be confused with Michigan's Smiley nor with Smiley Culture, although to add to the confusion his web domain name is www.smiley-culture.com. This Smiley was born on the happy Island of Aruba which was then still part of the Dutch Antilles. In 1999 he moved to the Netherlands and he is currently under the management of Amsterdam based POW Records, who together with him released his killer debut single.
'Tomorrow' has a deliciously rolling bass line and should play well in any dance. Smiley's delivery of his self written lyrics is easy yet intense. With his slightly hoarse voice and firm belief in Rastafari he asks the question whether Jah will see to it that tomorrow will be better than today. The excellent rhythm guitar and background vocals add to the professional and international sound.
The single cd contains two tracks that, as far as I can tell, only differ in the intro. The preferred album version has a murder introduction with lightning and thunder! Now if only some radio stations would pick up this release and play Smiley's tune. When will that happen? "Is it tomorrow?"
(Teacha Dan)
http://www.rootsmusic.nl/CDSmiley-Tomorrow.htm - Teacha Dan
Discography
Released single: Tomorrow in March 2006
Released song: Wailing Home (on the "I believe in Amsterdam" compilation-album) September 2008
Radio airplay: Tomorrow, Rush, Jah Way, Away from Home,Crazy Mind, Wailing Home, Give thanks & Praise, Dem a Wonder
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Bio
Smiley was born on the island of Aruba, December 18th 1980.
He has been making music since he was 17 years old. He has released a zouk cd with his band E.G.R. on Aruba.
Soon as he moved to The Netherlands in 2000 he started touring with a popular Dutch reggaeband called Out of Many. During this period he was writing a lot and after three years of touring with Out of Many it was time to start his solo career. Since 2004 Smiley and his band has performed at various Dutch festivals, such as Breathing Bijlmer, UITmarkt, Reggae on the Beach and Pleasure Easter party. As from 2007 Smiley has also been doing some international shows, like the Popkomm reggae festival in Berlin for example. Smileys perfomances are fun and energizing, turning everybody into reggae lovers.
His first single Tomorrow had quite a lot of airplay on different radiostations in Holland, Aruba and Belgium and the musicvideo of this song reached a number three position in the reggae chart of Dutch musictelevision The Box in the first two weeks. Other Smiley tracks are being played in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Aruba and some local radiostations in the US.
A collaboration between Smiley and Surinam band Ondrofeni resulted in a unique song called Wailing Home; a combination of reggae and the Surinam music-style Kawina. On the 2nd of September 2008 this song was released on a compilation-album called "I believe in Amsterdam".
Recently Smiley has also been working with various Jamaican artists and producers. He travelled to Jamaica in October 2008 to shoot a video with famous reggae artist Junior Kelly. Their song Dem a Wonder is set to be a big hitsong. After Smiley's trip to Jamaica he has been a special guest alongside Maikel X at Ziggi's In Transit tour.
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