Roxroy McLean, STAR Writer
Zukie Joseph - contributed
Junior 'Zukie Joseph' Allen a Jamaican Roots Reggae artiste based overseas, who has worked with some of Reggae's most elite icons, is aiming to capture the Jamaican market with his conscious lyrics.
After moving to the United States in 1986, Zukie Joseph immediately created waves on the international scene, hooking up with Miami's leading sound system Twilight High and Slate High Power as a vocalist.
Three years later, he moved to Canada, a decision that further propelled his career, as he became the lead singer of reggae band, The Messiah.
Subsequent to that movement, Zukie Joseph became a huge hit as he was again appointed lead singer of P.H.D, a band widely considered Vancouver's number one over a three year span.
His polished and conscious lyrics gelled with music lovers, earning the band playing time over a hundred different venues across Vancouver.
Wonderful opportunity
He had the wonderful opportunity of working with some of reggae's greats, including Leroy 'Heptones' Sibbles, Burning Spear, The Wailers, Beenie Man, and Justin Hines etc, whom he said helped influence his decision to go solo.
Zukie Joseph hopes that his musical career will paint a positive picture and he's aiming to achieve the utmost, providing hard, conscious music.
"Basically, my hope is to have a wholesale name," he said.
"When a man listen to my music he should be able to identify with it," said the radical vocalist.
"I hope to provide a platform of hard, conscious music," he added.
"My message right now is a change, so I'll be providing music to the strongest force," he said.
Commercially released
Zukie has commercially released three albums, with the fourth coming in 2008. In 2004 he released his debut solo album It's About Time.
With the first single Give Her What She Wants was featured on Global Television, the season pilot of Falcon Beach and hit the radio airwaves hard.
The album brought him some success, as he was presented with the annual Reggae Music Appreciation award for 2004, as well as a nomination for the Canadian Reggae Music Awards.
In his current project, People Get Up (Do It), Zukie Joseph teams up with Devon Martin (a.k.a. Mr. Metro) of Canada, veteran producer Robert Stephenson and Mikey Steer of Jamaica.
He claims that the diversity in the beat that comes from the grouping of producers will definitely get people up.
Zukie Joseph, a self-motivated Rastafarian who grew on King Street, in Glendevon, Montego Bay says his final message to the youths of Jamaica is:
"Put down the gun, find a decent and more civil way to solve conflicts, because really and truly it not so hostile in Jamaica, when you look at places in Haiti and parts of Africa."
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