WITH ALMOST A BILLION STREAMS , SNOW SEEKS COLLABORATION WITH BUJU BANTON
by Dave Rodney, Contributor, Caribbean Times
Snow, Canada’s dancehall superstar whose remake single with Daddy Yankee and pop queen Katie Perry is rapidly approaching a billion views on YouTube is salivating for a chance to record with Jamaica’s dancehall don Buju Banton. The bilingual remake of Snow’s 1990s smash single ‘Informer’, now called “Con Calma” on the remix has rapidly become a chart-topper and a dance anthem across the Latino music world. Only days ago the song broke all chart records on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 charts as the single spending the most weeks at #1.
“I have always admired the tremendous energy that Buju brings to reggae, but since he’s been back from prison and in Jamaica, his fire is burning brighter”, Snow told the Caribbean Times. “His spirit reminds me so much of Bob Marley and if there is an opportunity to record with him, I’d be on the next plane to Kingston tomorrow morning”, Snow added, enthusiastically.
“Con Calma” is the most streamed song so far for 2019 and it is creating a resurgence in Snow’s already impressive career with a flood of projects coming in from both the Latino and the Anglo markets. But the Toronto native also wants to make sure that some recordings happen in Jamaica on the reggae/ dancehall tip as part of his current surge.
There are striking similarities between the experiences of Snow and Buju. Both legends have had to endure prison sentences that disrupted their journeys to superstardom.
Snow grew up in Toronto’s Allenbury projects in Canada and he was involved in a knife fight in 1989. He was arrested and detained for eight months at the Metro Toronto East Detention Center on charges of attempted murder. He was eventually acquitted of all charges.
Buju Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was arrested in Florida in 2009 and was sentenced to ten years in a Tampa federal court for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. He was released from the McRae Correctional Facility in Georgia on December 7 after serving seven years and welcomed back to Jamaica triumphantly by large numbers of excited fans.
If Snow succeeds in his quest for a collaboration, this will not be his first rodeo with Banton. Buju was featured on Snow’s 1995 all star remix single ‘Anything for you’.
Banton currently has two combination tracks on DJ Khaled’s hot new ‘Father of Asahd’ album. The kaleidoscope of other artists with tracks on the album are Cardi B, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Big Sean, Meek Mill, J Balvin, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Post Malone, Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Future.
Snow also looks forward to performing in Jamaica again. He told the Caribbean Times he first performed on the island in Kingston in 1993 for Reggae Sunsplash. “Honestly, I was frightened when I saw people collecting empty drink bottles at the Sunsplash venue. I thought they were going to bottle me while I performed. But then I spoke with Coco Tea who assured me that reggae fans loved me. Coco Tea blessed the stage before I took the microphone. Everything went great and from then on I’ve been deeply in love with Jamaica”, Snow recounted.
“Wouldn’t that be so very cool to touch the mic on the 2019 Sumfest stage in Montego Bay with Buju?”, the multi-platinum prodigy reasoned.
and then 