Milwaukee is an arid zone when it comes to contemporary reggae music, so it is with open arms that Brew City rockers fans welcome mic chanter Prezident Brown and his band, The Orchestra of Judah," to Shank Hall, Tues., July 16 at 8 p.m. as part of a U.S. tour -- "Unleash the Lion" -- that will run longer than three months.
In the ever-onward world of reggae, few performers want to be seen to be working in an antiquated style. But dancehall rapper Prezident Brown (born Fitz Albert Cotterell), has a roots and culture style that evokes the legends of the style and his powerful voice and a bubbling style conjure up daddy U-Roy, the majestic I. Roy and the great U. Brown, whose style Prezident Brown's most resembles.
{INSERT_RELATED}Brown began performing at age 14 and recorded under numerous names since his 1988 disc debut. Part of a conscious movement in Jamaican music that arose a decade ago as a response to the escalating violence in the music, Prezident Brown, along with Tony Rebel and Kulcha Knox, is one of the triumvirate of cultural reggae DJs and his toe-tapping, spirit-raising songs promote positive messages, often alongside singers like Luciano, Jah Mali, Ras Shiloh, Bush Man and others.
Most of Brown's best recordings are collected on a pair of double-disc sets, "Showcase" and "Showcase Volume Two," issued by Jahmani Productions. The first pairs a killer selection of tracks with a bevy of dub versions. The second set opens with a string of previously unreleased tracks and includes a duet with daddy U. Brown. Disc 2 includes some of the Prezident's most slammin' works: "Bun Down Rome," "Holy Land," "Talking Drum," "Roots in the Music" and "Roots and Culture," another duet with U. Brown.
Tickets for the show, which also features New Flavor Reggae Band, are $14 in advance and $16 at the door. Shank Hall is at 1434 N. Farwell Ave. For more on the show, call (414) 276-7288. For more on the Prezident, visit www.jahmanipro.com/index.htm.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
