TRINIDAD-BORN Jillionare of the world-renowned sound-system production team Major Lazer, spoke with TEENage prior to their first Caribbean concert, which was held at the University of the West Indies’ Student Union.

They were in the island a week prior to their show to shoot the 1990s-era dancehall-inspired video for Bumaye, their latest single that features Busy Signal, the Flexican, and FS Green.

Jillionaire took time out to speak with TEENage on a range of topics including the genesis of the group, sentiments of their recent productions and his ideas of where Caribbean music is and should be.

TEENage: For those who don’t know, what is Major Lazer?

Jillionare: Major Lazer was originally a Dancehall-club music type of movement, originated by Diplo and Switch. To give the music some form of character, we decided to package the music under this Major Lazer moniker.

TEENage: How did you become involved in Major Lazer?

Jillionare: Through a mutual friend, I met Diplo and Switch (co-founder of Major Lazer, but no longer apart of the group) while they were working on MIA’s album Kala in Trinidad. Despite my work not making the final cut for the album, I maintained a friendship with them. Eventually, he was asked to be the emcee for Major Lazer once they began performing live, and I’ve been a part of the group ever since.

TEENage: What made Major Lazer think that Caribbean sounds could be meshed with European dance music?

Jillionare: It’s our interpretation of what Caribbean music should sound like in 2013. It’s a little bit more universally accessible, so it can be appreciated by a Dancehall audience and a dance music audience. It’s something that can be played at a rave, but you can still play it on Jamaican radio.

TEENage: Tell us about the highly-spoken of Major Lazer live show?

Jillionare: We use a lot of the elements found in Caribbean stage shows, such as the theatrics of a soca fete or a Dancehall stage show, in our performances. It’s Diplo and I going back and forth in the DJ booth, with Walshy Fire from Black Chiney as our emcee. We also have confetti, a light show, and two dancers that tour with us.

TEENage: What can persons expect from Major Lazer’s sophomore album?

Jillionare: The album is called Free The Universe and it’s going to be out in February (2013). It covers all grounds. We have a handful of club-ier tunes with artistes such as Elephant Man, Beenie Man, and Ward 21. We have hybrid dancehall tracks, like the one that we did with Bruno Mars, and reggae ones with artistes likes Wyclef and Shaggy. We really called a host of collaborators. The album kind of spans the gambut of crazy club music to straight up reggae tracks.

TEENage: Describe the role of Major Lazer in Snoop Lion’s (Snoop Dogg) first reggae album, Reincarnated?

Jillionare: Major Lazer is the executive producer of the album, with Diplo and Dre Skull doing a majority of the album’s production.

TEENage: When the album was first announced, a lot of people scoffed at it, because they were probably wondering why Snoop was doing reggae music. What do you think of the criticism?

Jillionare: Snoop is such a legend and larger-than-life character. He will definitely be able to shine a spotlight on Reggae music, and probably will give it a little bit of a revival. He just shot two videos here, for Here Comes the King and Lighters Up, with Popcaan and Mavado.

TEENage: What led to the decision to perform at UWI Mona?

Jillionare: We wanted to do a Jamaican show for two years. We wanted to do a Caribbean boat tour, from island to island. We finally had the opportunity to do it. We’re going to St Martin, the BVI, US Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. We decided that it would be cool to something at UWI. We get a lot of love from the young kids here who are into different stuff.

TEENage: Lastly, do you believe that Caribbean artistes have to fuse their sounds to regain the larger degree of relevancy we once had internationally?

Jillionare: I don’t think that they have to fuse their sound; I think that you have to make a sound that is palatable. Not to sound cliché, but when you look on someone like Shaggy, during Hotshots, he was still intrinsically doing dancehall music, but he would still be doing mainstream pop records and jumping on riddims in Jamaica. The same for Sean Paul. I think that you have to strike a balance between what people want to hear, what will fit on the radio, and remain true to what is intrinsically Caribbean.