Singer/producer Tony Anthony and James Smith of Tasjay Productions wanted to prove their hometown has the chops to rock with the best of them when they collaborated on the ‘My Turn’ riddim, a throwback jam that features artistes such as Luciano and Ed Robinson.

“My co-producer and I had discussed creating a reggae track with an authentic roots feel, adding some solid brass that would illuminate the riddim; and that’s what we did,” said Anthony, who has lived in Canada for over 30 years.

The songs on ‘My Turn’ cover roots (‘World Destruction’ by Luciano), lovers rock (Ed Robinson), ‘reality’ (‘Some Family’ by Rad Dixon) and old-fashioned rub-a-dub (‘Ex Man’ by Troy Bronxz).

Anthony, whose song is the title track, said he and Smith agreed to stay away from a plethora of ‘name’ acts for the ‘My Turn’. They went for artistes who had a particular skill.

“The selection of the artistes we wanted to voice on this project was not a hard process, because we chose artistes who we knew would write the type of lyrics we wanted to represent. We chose artistes we knew had the sound that would fit on a solid reggae track we created,” he explained.

Troy Bronxz, a sound system veteran inspired by the likes of Shabba Ranks, fit that bill. Recording since 1994, he points to his years prowling Jamaican dancehalls for helping develop his songwriting.

“Working on sound systems has been very instrumental in my career. Sound system has given me the opportunity to hone my skills, gave me the confidence to interact and hold the attention of an audience. Performing on ‘sounds’ has helped with my lyrics writing, being able to create lyrics at any given moment and creating and developing my style,” he said.

Artists like Anthony have helped fly the reggae banner in Canada for many years. Like Troy Bronxz, he was raised in rural St. Catherine parish, recorded songs, and worked with show bands before migrating to the land of the Maple Leaf in the early 1990s.

Fiona Chin with ‘Rise To The Top’, Onique (‘I’m A Fighter’) and Treson (‘Got To Go Now’) complete the songs on the ‘My Turn’ riddim.