Government Name: Colin Harper
Born: New Orleans, USA
Age: 25
Genre: Reggae
Rising star Collie Buddz puts Bermuda on the reggae map
White-skinned and fair-haired, up and coming singjay Collie Buddz is an unlikely poster-yout’ for the reggae scene in his native island of Bermuda. But his one drop anthem “Come Around” –possibly the toughest rockers beat to be unleashed on radio since Damian Marley’s ‘Welcome to Jamrock”—has made the recently signed Sony artist exactly that, taking reggae charts in Europe and the Caribbean by storm. What’s more unlikely is that even though he sounds equally at home over a ragga-soca track like “Mamacita” or the Notting Hill vibe of “Everything,” his chart hit is a slow and low weed anthem, his vocal styling as close to a rootsman like Bascom X as it is to a cross-over crooner like Rupee. Part of the hook is the lyric’s unique Bermudan perspective, dedicated to the drouts of ganja that affect the far-flung island periodically (the title comes from the opening line: “Finally the herbs come around…”) sprinkled with references to local soundsystems and selectors like Souljah 1 and Lenky. Lyrics aside if the power and vocal versatility on his debut 45 are any indication, big things are to be expected from a Collie Buddz LP dropping in the New Year.
