Legendary Jamaican crooner/songwriter Gregory Isaacs collaborates with his South African counterpart, King Isaac. The Reggae singer/songwriter born in Zimbabwe, was in the island recently promoting his new album, Isaac Meets Isaac.

“Gregory Isaacs and myself have been working on this album since we first met. We started recording together in 2005, and since then we have done a number of recordings together that culminated in this album,” King Isaac told the Sunday Observer.

Expressing his pleasure in the project, the production of which was completed within the last year, King Isaac, reminisced how his interest in Reggae music started when the king of the genre recorded a song after his homeland in celebration of its independence.

“This is an album that I am very proud of because every song on there is really just very strong. But my interest in this music came from my home country when Bob Marley came in 1980, and he had done a song called Zimbabwe commemorating our struggle for independence and our government invited Bob Marley and he opened a flood gate of Reggae music,” recalled King Isaac.

But he was quick to point out that before Marley visited his country, there was Reggae, but not the revolutionary type. And even though the rest of the world was aware of other revolutionary artistes like Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Third World, Aswad and Steel Pulse, in Zimbabwe they were not known because the Apartheid government did not allowed their revolutionary music to come in.

“But with independence and with the coming of Bob Marley, we got to learn about reggae music. And a lot of artistes then came after that. There were groups like UB40, and then of course we had the legendary Jimmy Cliff coming shortly after Bob came. A group from England called Mystic Roots and from then we had other artistes such as Don Carlos who used to work with Black Uhuru came through, then Gregory Isaacs came in 1987…,” the singer, who is also professor of ethnomusicology at Michigan State University, USA, told the Sunday Observer.

Sharing a list of some of his favourite artistes, King Isaac added that this recording with Gregory Isaacs represents a continuation in his musical journey.

“My favourite artistes include Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, Leroy Sibbles, Mighty Diamonds and Gregory Isaacs, of course. And so, working with Gregory Isaacs is a continuation of my journey in the Reggae world,” acknowledged the South African musical convert.

“It so happened that I become the lover’s rock songwriter. And much from it came from the influence of perhaps the three most important lover’s rock artistes of the 80s (this is of course my opinion). Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown and Sugar Minott were the three most important lover’s rock artistes,” explained King Isaac, who started writing poetry at 14, and did his first recording in 1996 at the age of 21 while studying for a degree in economic history at the University of Zimbabwe. Although he was interested in an academic career, King Isaac also knew that a move to the USA would bring him closer to Jamaica and the world of Reggae. In January of 1991, he left Zimbabwe to study at Indiana University.

Upon his arrival in the US, he immediately formed a Reggae band called Zimbeggae ( merging Zimbabwe with Reggae). The group performed in many venues in Indiana, focusing on both original and cover material. In 1993 he received an MA in ethomusicology from Indiana University. In 1997 he was appointed to the faculty at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. His continuing graduate education culminated in his earning a PhD in folklore/ethnomusicology in 1999 from Indiana University.

“This is my fourth album, and I have a few other albums waiting in the wings. So, I Have been working consistently recording music, y’know. Each time I come to Jamaica, I do some major recordings. This is my fourth album, and it’s an honour to be on it with Gregory Isaacs,” concluded King Isaac who spent at least a month in Jamaica every year for the last ten years.