Richie heads to the hills
DUB poet Richie Innocent is enjoying much attention with his single Hills Mi Deh.
Release earlier this year, the track was self-produced on his Innocent Entertainment imprint.
“I am very happy with the response I am getting with this single. It’s getting a lot of support,” said the former deejay-cum-poet.
Richie Innocent (given name Richard Robinson) began his recording career as a deejay in 1995 with a single called Whoei Whoe, produced by veteran Courtney Cole.
After spending a decade recording, he made his breakthrough with a single titled Drugs Fi Gun on the Flava Squad label in 2009.
“Drugs Fi Gun is my most successful recording as a deejay. It’s the song that put my name out there.”
In 2013, the Kingston-born artiste — who grew up in St Elizabeth — recorded and released his first dub poetry single, The Good Old Days. Encouraged by the response, the following year he recorded Comm-Unity Time.
“I always liked writing poetry from I was a little boy, but I never really had any inclination to record the poems I wrote. My mother encouraged me to do it and I took her advice and gave it a try. A lot of people were surprised when they heard the first poem I recorded; they couldn’t believe it was me,” said Richie Innocent.
Over the last few months, he has delivered brilliant performances at a number of events including the Jamaica Poetry Festival at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in Kingston and Poetry Fest in Portland.