This Raggamuffin MC has been a true underground favorite since his emergence on the musical scene in the early 90's. He has rammed up several stage shows and done countless dubplates and guest recording appearances with bands and soundsystems throughout the US and abroad lending his DJ toasting style to various forms of music ranging from Dancehall to Gospel and nearly everything in between. Trained in the old school tradition of "ram dance" DJ chatting made popular by artists such as: Yellowman, Nicodemus, and Super Cat, DJ Collage began his musical career performing weekly guest spots with live Jamaican reggae bands at the famed Wild Hare nightclub on Chicago's north side. From there, he linked up with an African reggae soundsystem (Africa Love International) and began travelling and performing with them at Dancehall parties throughout the Midwestern US and Canada. In late 1992, DJ Collage relocated to the Bay Area of CA and immediately began linking with several local bands and selectors in various forms of music. In addition to crossing musical genres, DJ Collage had the opportunity to perform and tour with established reggae artists such as: Daddy U-Roy, Ras Michael, Barrington Levy, Messenjah, Raskidus, The Heptones, and Nicodemus. Through his collaborations, he also scored two top ten hits in the year 1994. One with the reggae soundsystem/band: Positive Sound Massive titled "Unity" and another with local dance/breakbeat group Dubtribe titled: "Mother Earth". Determined to take his career to another level, DJ Collage started his Masse-One record label/production company and received much favorable reviews worldwide for his cassette only 2 song single: "Worla' Destruction/Sol pon fire" released in late 96'. Now for the year 2000 and beyond, DJ Collage is continuing to build a musical bridge between "yard and foreign" by fusing American urban musical styles with Jamaican musical styles much like artists such as Shinehead, Born Jamericans, Wyclef Jean and Beenie Man have done before him. His latest project is a 5 song EP titled: "Uptown/Downtown". This collection of songs is a lively combination of dancehall and hip-hop riddims with nuff niceness all done inna foreign stylee! The tracks on the self produced EP range from modern rockers stylee (Dance haffi rock) to hip-hop/breakbeat soul (New-Type Sound) reminiscent of the UK swingbeat soul period. There are also uptempo modern dancehall riddims (Get Along, Babylon Tymes) and downtempo late night hip-hop vibes (Hold up yuh hand if yuh ah Ganjaman). Currently, DJ Collage can be found touring the States and Europe to promote the EP and preparing to release his full-length in mid next year. Other projects in the works include a reworked version of his tune: "Babylon Tymes" with Austrian dub/breakbeat crew The Sofasurfers, an original R&B flavored hip-hop song with Boston hip-hop crew The Exile Society titled: "Bring Something to the Table", and an updated version of Tenor Saw's "Ring the Alarm" with BSI record's live dub band Systemwide. So all massive hold
tight and watch the ride as this Raggamuffin "foreign ambassador"
continues to unite the musical world with his "Collage" of styles!
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