Kashief does MJ tribute album

Howard Campbell

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

WHEN pop superstar Michael Jackson died just over two years ago, he left millions of fans in mourning. Florida-based singer Kashief Lindo was one of them.

Lindo, son of veteran musician/producer Willie Lindo, has recorded A Reggae Tribute To Michael Jackson, an 18-song album which hears him covering some of the King of Pop's best known songs.

The album is scheduled to be released digitally and in compact disc form in early March by Heavy Beat Records, his father's Fort Lauderdale record label.

Lindo said he and the elder Lindo selected the list of songs, then recorded them to ska and reggae beats with experienced musicians like bass player Robbie Shakespeare, drummer Paul Douglas and keyboardist Robbie Lyn.

"There's obviously a different drum feel but we stuck to the arrangements.

We didn't want to stray too much from the originals," Lindo told the Observer.

Among the songs Lindo covers are Never Can Say Goodbye, originally recorded during the early 1970s while Jackson was part of the Jackson Five; Earth Song, Wanna Be Starting Something, The Way You Make Me Feel, Heal The World, Man In The Mirror and Rock With You.

Earth Song was released in 2010 to mark the first anniversary of Jackson's death. Last year, Heavy Beat released a seven-song EP (extended play) titled Remembering Michael Jackson.

The project was completed in late 2011 by Heavy Beat, a mainstay of the south Florida reggae scene. The label has produced numerous hits including Dennis Brown's classic Inseparable album, Beres Hammond's What One Dance Can Do and I Wanna Wake Up With You, the 1986 British Top 10 hit from Boris Gardiner.

Now in his early 30s, Kashief Lindo has been recording since he was a teenager, mainly for Heavy Beat Records. 'A Reggae Tribute' is his 12th album.

He was a toddler when Michael Jackson took the world by storm in 1982 with Wanna Be Starting Something, taken from Thriller, the 1982 monster album that has sold over 30 million units.

Jackson, who had become addicted to prescription drugs, died at his Los Angeles home in June, 2009 from cardiac arrest.