Benzly Hype channels old hit on new single

Actor, singer, songwriter and producer Benzly Hype recently released the 'Kingston Venom' rhythm which features several dancehall artistes.

Among the well-known dancehall acts featured are Tanto Metro and Devonte with Catatonic; Innocent Kru with 1111 Bus It; and Harry Toddler with Dancehall Again.

But the single from Zinthios, titled The Chain, will sound familiar to dancehall fans as it is a remake of Impossible Train, an international hit from the Innocent Kru in the 1990s. Benzly Hype said the creation of The Chain was "organic".

"My road manager, Ricton, carried him (Zinthios) to the studio and on introducing himself, he started to tell me how I was his father's favourite artiste and he grew up on Innocent Kru. He then started to just deejay all of our songs, word for word," Benzly Hype said. "When the riddim started, the first thing out his mouth was, ' Look up on the stage it's a bird, it's a plane, check out mi gold teeth, check out my gold chain.' Mi feel the energy lift up in the place. I was like, OK then, this is it, and we voice it. When he left, I added the girls' vocal and intro, and so there was The Chain."

Impossible Train allowed Innocent Kru, which was made up of Dapsie Daps (now deceased), Copper Kid, Macka Head and Benzly Hype to tour with rapper Cam'ron in the USA. Innocent Kru followed up with hits such as Not Guilty and Cha Cha, both produced by the legendary Sly and Robbie.

Speaking of the Kingston Venom rhythm, Benzly Hype is pleased with the response that he has received for it.

"Last week, we released the lead single, Venom, featuring me and Wasp, and the reaction has been incredible. Mi start get dubplate work from the song already, everybody is feeling the riddim. The sound, energy and tone change; this is the one for the summer," Benzly Hype said. The project is released on the Hyyype! Muzik and Mojo Majestic Ent labels.