With a new album on the market, Prezident Brown is promoting it the old school way. He hit the road in June for shows on the United States West Coast and the Pacific Northwest, fertile ground for the roots chanter for 20 years.

Roots Hop Reggae (In Your Box) is the title of his new album. Its lead single, The Sleeping Giant (Wake Up), also came out in June.

This is the veteran artiste’s first album since I Sound is From Creation which was released in 2012. Roots Hop Reggae (In Your Box) which he describes as a blend of dancehall, hip hop and jazz, is also different in terms of direction.

“The difference between this album and the previous is the production. This is the first full-length album I’ve made outside of Jamaica,” said Prezident Brown.

He co-produced The Sleeping Giant (Wake Up) with guitarist Tuff Lion and multi-instrumentalist Mony Lujan. They also collaborated on most of the Roots Hop Reggae (In Your Box) and are members of Prezident Brown’s touring band.

Born in Fitz Albert Cotterell in Clarendon, Prezident Brown has been based in California for many years. He kicked off his latest trek there on June 15 at Laurel Park in the city of Santa Cruz, and is scheduled to perform in Seattle, Washington on July 19.

Prezident Brown emerged during the 1990s when there was a roots-reggae revival in Jamaica, led by acts like Garnet Silk, Tony Rebel, Everton Blender and Yasus Afari. While he never had the mainstream success of those artistes, he cut a series of well-received albums for Runn Records, a company from The Netherlands.

Those albums include Big Bad and Talented and Prezident Selection, which introduced him to audiences in Europe and the US West Coast which have traditionally been receptive to roots-reggae.

– Howard Campbell