Tosh Alexander remixes reggae classic with Sizzla
Can’t Give You a Try, the remix to veteran entertainer, Sizzla’s 2003 smash hit of a similar name, is being hailed a female anthem.
According to Jamaican songstress, Tosh Alexander,
who released the tune on February 11, tapping into classics is something that
she’s always wanted to do.
“Music is going in a direction where, as with
anything it comes full circle, so we are going back into a space of tapping
into those older sounds,” said Alexander.
“So, my thing is I am going to use reggae because
I’m Jamaican first and the whole world loves it and the whole world is using it
right now. You know we hear it all over. So why not tap into something that’s
naturally our birth right,” she added.
Tosh said the song was recorded almost a year
earlier and had been shelved, until a chance encounter with Sizzla’s son, who
is also a musician.
“So I didn’t expect to use it because I was working
on more stuff and it normally gets complicated when you are dealing with
samples. So I just put it down. Recently, I met his son and we started playing
each other’s music and when I played it for him and he was like, ‘Yow, my dad
would love this’,” Tosh explained.
“His son sent it to him. And then he was just like,
‘my dad said to call him’. And when I called him he told me how he loved the
song,” added Tosh who noted that Sizzla recommended a couple of changes.
After making the prescribed adjustments, Tosh
revealed that she went to Sizzla’s Judgement Yard where she shot the video, in
which the veteran artiste is featured.
The video also features Tosh’s clothing line which
she started in 2020 as a response to the Black Lives Matter protest in the
United States
Tosh who lives part-time in the US, said the BLM
movement was the inspiration behind her Black Nuh [expletive deleted] clothing
line
“I was inspired by the whole Black Lives Matter
movement and what was happening in the states at the time, as it was nothing I
had ever experienced before and I really felt compelled to do something to make
people that actually look like myself just have a proud moment. Even if it is
unapologetic,” said Tosh.
“In Jamaica [expletive deleted] is like a really
kind of crass word and people don’t deem it appropriate. And with the clothing line
I wasn’t trying to be appropriate. I was actually trying to be offensive
because I believe in that space we were just so tired of asking. And in the
moment I was showing ‘yes we are this and we don’t care what you think about
that,” added Tosh.
According to Tosh, using the irreverent clothing
brand in the video, particularly alongside Sizzla was appropriate because it
represents some of the principles they both believe in.
Tosh shared that in working with Sizzla, she learned so much about the artiste, not just professionally but personally, particularly of his caring and gentle character. “He was so welcoming, he was so hospitable. Honestly, I know when people see him they think he is so serious looking, and he is a serious man for sure, but he is just such a gentleman and so respectful,” said Tosh.
“He was very excited to impart lessons, like take
music seriously and ensure that in everything I am doing I am representing
my best self. And so in this song, I made sure that every step of the way I
told him what we were doing so he could see that I was representing his
classic work well ,” added Tosh.