Tiggana Reggae Dancehall has been hitting the stages around greater-Boston since landing here from Jamaica. Speaking in a Jamaican accent, the new Bostonian said there is nothing more important to him than his music.
He’s trying to get together with a reggae band to express the reggae music he writes. His brother is the singer for his act and Tiggana does the hard core reggae vocalizing. He is part of a new movement of young reggae singers called the J.A. Movement that’s hitting clubs across the country. He wants to eventually return to Jamaica to make his name. “They say you have to blow where you’re from,” Tiggana said.
When Tiggana and his brother play, they are the show, with a backing band behind them. Their focus is on global music and global themes. His long term goal is to work with The This And That Band. Tiggana has performed at Sammy’s Patio in Revere and at Jerky’s in Providence, Rhode Island. He has opened for Jim Jones and other big artists.
He is lining up some more shows in Jamaica Plain at the American Legion Club that holds a hundred people. Tiggana has CD’s he has made and be heard on his MySpace account. “We’re making two separate albums because we’re going to do R&B too,” he said. “We have a single out called Ocus Focus. They can look it up on YouTube. We’re going to make a full reggae album, full consciousness. Then we’re going to make an album of dance songs for the kids, to jump and stuff.”
Tiggana is like David Marley in that he sings and directs the band and writes the songs. His brother is also a singer. “He sings really soft and nice for the girls,” Tiggana said. “I do the really hard core.” When singing over the telephone, Tiggana went into some deep, heavily accented sung poetry with a strong island flavor.
“I’m not shy,” Tiggana said. “I’m not shy. I don’t have no shy. I’m the best reggae artist in Boston right now. A lot of these artists that’s big already, they don’t have no stage presence. They don’t know the crowd. If it wasn’t for their music, good music speaks for itself. I have good music too, but it’s good that I can dance. I can interact with them the right way.”
Tiggana’s songwriting is inspired by his life. He grew up in the worst Jamaican ghetto, and he traveled all over his homeland. He feels music so deeply that he drops everything he is doing to write a song. “Every second, every minute,” he exclaimed. “It’s my feeling, how I really feel.”
He said buskers get more respect in Jamaica than they do in Boston. People in his native land are more supportive of the expression of the singers and players. Tiggana has lofty goals for his reggae music. “I’m trying to be the next Bob Marley, man,” he said. “I’m not trying to be a regular reggae artist. I have a strong message. I have a prophet image. I have many stories, uplifting. I’m trying to bring the world together. We’re all people, black, white. That’s the movement I’m trying to do. I have this strong energy. Wherever I go, I just bring this strong energy.”
Tiggana has quite a few songs on his MySpace. He sings of global issues, like the world wide recession that has left many unemployed. “My music is real,” he said “I write about people can’t get a work. It’s global and where do you go? I don’t write for Jamaica, I write for globally.”
Tiggana and lance gordon will be performing live tonight in boston matapan at kay’s Oasis rohan fation show come check wi out bless