PAPA Michigan, of Michigan & Smiley fame, recently dropped his first solo album, Love Iz. Interestingly, the entertainer, born Anthony Fairclough, has been living in Los Angeles for a year now, the same city where his former partner Erroll Bennett, with whom he formed the duo Papa Michigan and General Smiley, also resides.

“This is Papa Michigan, aka Baddingo, Spilingo, Gringo of Michigan and Smiley yuh nuh, so much names, don’t ask me why,” waxed the veteran deejay rhythmically, while adding that even though he and Smiley are pursuing individual career paths, that does not stop them from collaborating, especially for live performances

But the focus for Papa Michigan right now is to once again spread some musical diseases by Nic(ing) Up The Dance (as was the title of the first major hit). Among his other major hits were Rub-A-Dub Style and One Love Jamdown.

In this, his second coming as a solo artiste, Papa Michigan is bent on repeating the impact of the abovementioned songs, with his album Love Iz. “Well, Love Iz, is my first real solo effort as an album, yuh nuh,” he said, speaking of the set of 17 songs with collaborations featuring Tarrus Riley, with whom he did remake of Diseases, Luciano, Mikey General, Pampi Judah, a rapper name Denario and an the Haitian group, Big O. There are two gospel songs, God Almighty Alone and Love Iz which is a crossover.

A second generation of the father of 10 is also featured on the set. Papa Michigan’s daughters provided harmony on about five of the songs, and his son, 30-year-old Nian, who goes by the name News, played on two tracks — Husla and Brown Eyez.

Included on the album is one of the earliest songs in celebration of the elevation of Barack Obama to the presidency of America. “We made this one long before Barack Obama became president of the United States and I put it out on YouTube… and the song is really saying that Barack Obama is the first black president of the United States. Even before the primaries was over… so it played an integral part in the process,” Papa Michigan said. A copy of the recording was sent to the White House.

Papa Michigan & General Smiley were among the first toasters who worked as a duo in the first wave of dancehall music of the late seventies in Jamaica. At the time, Studio One was rekindling its pride of place in Jamaican recorded music, thanks to a new generation of acts that rocked the dancehall. They included singers Freddie McGregor and Sugar Minott.

Recording at Studio One with groundbreaking material such as their first hit Rub a Dub Style, on the classic Studio One rhythm, Vanity. Then came Nice Up the Dance which was a version also of a Studio One rhythm, Real Rock. These singles, with four other tracks, also versions of classic Studio One rhythms, were released on their first LP, Nice Up the Dance. Diseases which came out 1981, along with One Love Jamdown and Nice Up the Dance, were three songs of year, respectively, for three consecutive years.

In 1998, Papa Michigan established his own record label, Rashanco, on which Love Iz, is produced. For his label, he has produced records for Luciano, Half Pint, George Nooks, Lutan Fyah and Jah Mason among others.

As the name of his record label implies, Papa Michigan focuses on cultural music. “Mi really produce culture music, mi nuh produce dancehall music. Because mi nuh inna certain things, it (the music) affi spiritually high,” he stressed. He said that his next album will be called Michigan and Friends, and will include Lukie D and a lot of other artistes whom he produced.

He also said that even though he was always active as a performer, now that his solo set is out, he will be even more visible as a solo performer and there are some solo performances in the works. “With this solo album out, the fans are looking forward to some solo performances. I recently did two shows in Florida, I just did some shows in California and I am going up next week to Atlanta to perform, then at the end of July I’ll go to Germany to work. So mi have work a do,” the veteran deejay told Splash.

Reflecting on the tragic airplane crash in Buffalo, New York, in February in which four of his relatives (cousins) perished, Papa Michigan said it isn’t easy but he sees it as a phase in one’s existence.

“It nuh easy, but we just have to know sey a life and it’s a transition pass on to the next to the next one. So we just have to let go…we had memorial service back in November where it was officially over, so it bring closure.”