Black Queen rebrands juggling rhythm

Reggae artiste Black Queen is giving her reggae compilation a name change — and sacrificing her own title-track spotlight in the process.

The singer and first-time executive producer has renamed the ‘Weed Baby’ rhythm as ‘Darling Rose’, betting that a softer introduction will give its songs a wider audience. Shakespeare’s rose might smell just as sweet under another name but, in the music business, Black Queen believes the label can affect who stops to listen.

“BQ Productions decided this name change to ensure that the reach and impact of the project is not harmed by negative first impressions because of the name ‘weed’ in the title. This project is a multi-faceted one, with the artistes tackling subjects such as love, betrayal, hot-button youth issues, religion and politics. So a ‘Weed Baby’ title would only limit its scope,” said Black Queen.

The decision comes with a personal trade-off. Her collaboration with Dan Gio, Weed Baby, was the compilation’s title track. The song remains on the project but its name no longer gets top billing.

“Sometimes you have to take one for the team and this sacrifice is for the long-term good and visibility of the Darling Rose project,” she said.

That team includes Chuck Fenda, Turbulence, Teflon and Ginjah. Produced by BQ Entertainment, the compilation marks Black Queen’s first venture into executive producing a ‘juggling’ project — the Jamaican tradition of bringing multiple artistes together to record different songs over one instrumental.

Black Queen’s ambitions for the project extend beyond its established names. It was inspired by Tara Chande, an aspirant in the Miss Jamaica contest whose singing caught Black Queen’s attention. BQ Productions is a major sponsor of Chande’s pageant bid, and Black Queen sees potential for her to explore music.

“Tara likes singing, she has a very good voice, BQ Productions is about uplifting females, and this riddim creates the opportunity to explore singing in the future for rookies like Ms Chan,” she said.