DURING a working visit to Jamaica in 2011, Outlaw MBM got a taste of ‘rude bwoy’ acceptance during the early morning of a dance in Olympic Gardens, Kingston.

His song, Shorty Dis Me, was among the final batch of songs to hit the turntables. The reaction from fans shocked him.

“Di whole place jus’ went crazy. I never experienced nothing like that in my life. I would like to get that feeling again,” said Outlaw MBM.

Maad Move is the single the British deejay is banking on to achieve that rapturous response. Recently released, it is produced by Kimani Richards.

The song is partly inspired by Outlaw MBM’s career as a club boxer in his teens. He names heroes like Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, and Lennox Lewis in Maad Move, which he says reflects his personality.

“It’s an energy song, a happy song that people can dance to.”

Outlaw MBM was born Sean Bailey to Jamaican parents in Ipswich, eastern England. After a two-year bout with boxing he focused on music full-time, with dancehall being his sound of choice.

His first working trip to Jamaica was in 1998 to test the choppy dancehall waters. He ended up sharing the stage for Merciless’s birthday bash with a number of the genre’s heavyweights, including the host Ghost and Roundhead.

With Maad Move Outlaw MBM went for a sound that remains popular among hardcore dancehall fans in the United Kingdom.

“Dem watch whole heap a video from Jamaica [and] dem love Skillibeng and Popcaan and some hip hop like Drake, but dem love yaad culture,” he shared.

Outlaw MBM is head of Must Bust Music, which has produced songs by numerous Jamaican artistes including Junior Reid, Mad Cobra and Ghost.

— Howard Campbell