Burning Spear Talks On Lack Of Compensation For Artistes In His Time Plus Marcus Garvey and His Musical Journey – Watch Interview

July 30, 2023

A sentiment conveyed by most veteran Reggae artistes of not receiving the proper compensation for their artistic works is also shared by Reggae icon Burning Spear. The fiery singer revealed some of his past business dealings as he shared his musical journey, which saw him becoming one of the biggest names in Reggae music and black consciousness.

Despite the lack of or non-existing compensation issued by music producers and record labels, Burning Spear focused on improving his craft on the beach side of St Ann. Burning says his early years on the beachside helped to shape his life in music.

The singer went on to detail his early days at Studio One in an interview conducted by I Never Knew Tv by stating, “Mr Dodd was number one, within those early time at Studio One, but what happened to Mr Dodd, Mr Dodd in one sense, he is a selfish man do Mr Dodd knows the music yes, nobody knows the music better than Mr Dodd, but do you going to be getting pay no.”

Burning Spear acknowledges that he gained some advantages from his previous work experience with record labels, despite their mistreatment of him, as they helped promote his music globally.

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“The only thing I got is promotion for they do is promote you as the artiste, which is very good, they spread your name all over the world that’s the best part of a record company in those times, they promote you to the max because they knew that they going to benefit back from that promotion they did for you,” Burning Spear explained.

Black power leader Marcus Garvey remains one of the most significant influences on Burning Spear’s lyrics and messages as he portrays in his songs. The Man In The Hills artiste shared the birth parish with Jamaica’s first national hero; therefore, it was only natural that a few of his biggest hits had Marcus Garvey in its title.

See the full interview below: