Dancehall producer Mario C is spearheading a genre of music called Jam House, which he is confident will make a major statement not only in local dance music circles, but also on the international scene.

House music has seen a resurgence in recent times and has been outselling most of the established music genres, thanks to hits from Rihanna (We Found Love), Martin Sloveig and Dragonette (Hello), and Pitbull.

According to Mario C (real name Mario Campbell), his interest in house music developed while attending college in the US some 15 years ago. “I decided to produce my own spin of the genre in 2009 because Jamaica has become more accepting of the sound due to its recent mainstream popularity in the USA, and also due to the efforts of my affiliation with sound system 3rd Dimension to familiarise our party-goers with the genre.”

The name Jam House comes from the combination of dancehall and house music. Said Mario C, “The energy and crowd response to both genres are very similar and the marriage seemed like a match made in heaven. So we took the step and, based on the comments we have gotten so far, it looks very positives.”

Mario C has so far enlisted the talents of Beenie Man, Mad Cobra and Mr Lexx for the Jam House project. Mr Lexx has in the past worked on dance music projects from Major Lazer. His pairing with singer Alicia on the Mario C-produced Contagious is a treat that has already found favor on radio.

Mario C says there will be other collaborations with established artistes and up-and-coming acts. “I still have a few tracks left to put vocals on and I want to continue the trend of pairing new acts with some of our top regional artistes.”

The single is being offered free for download on Mario C’s Facebook page. He said the free download was strategic in getting the word out. “We wanted to garner some interest in the product hence the reason we decided to offer the song free for download. The ultimate plan is to sell the album at a cost price even at the expense of people thinking I’m crazy for doing this.”

For the future, Mario C wants to establish himself as the Jam House music pioneer and deejays. His skills as a house music deejay are already evident on the local party scene. “The project is a partnership between me and two other talented DJs Kurt Riley and Kamal Bankay of 3rd Dimension. We want this project to infect the entire world and open doors for the genre so that we are recognized and accepted as a bonafide sub-genre of house,” Mario C pointed out.

Mario C has kept dancehall music enthusiasts entertained over the past seven years with a number of productions out of his 357 Records imprint. The Bomb a Drop, Scoobay, Raindrops, and Freak side rhythms are some of the projects which have topped the charts in Jamaica and overseas.

His hit list also includes Go Go Club by Beenie Man, Breast Specialist by Vybz Kartel, Back it Up by Beenie Man, Tease Har by Anthony B, Can’t Get Enough by D Major and Five Star Hotel by Lady Saw. Additionally, he has produced hits for the likes of Versatile, Wayne Wonder, Morgan Heritage, Ce’Cile, Capleton, Sizzla, Elephant Man, Bounty Killer, Mavado, and TOK, among others.