What will be the next big boom to rise from Jamaicas bottomless musical psyche? Smart money is on reggae/R&B-infused T.O.K.
Unlike reggae dancehall stars of yesterday, Xavier Flexx Davidson, Craig Craigy T Thompson, Alistaire Alex McCalla, and Roshaun Bay-C Clarke the crew of 23 year-old Kingstonians collectively known as T.O.K. - didnt need to hunt down the right Stateside-Jamdung hybrid to take their music worldwide. Raised on both MTV and Jamaicas sound system circuit, their blend of beats and sensibilities comes naturally.
The T.O.K. story started humbly enough, 9 years ago, with four ambitious high school boys. Alistaire, Roshaun, and Craig were in the school choir at Campion College headed by John Binns, while Xavier attended Calabar High. Originally, the acronym T.O.K. stood for Touch of Klass, but over the years it has taken on different meanings from 'Taking Over Kingston' to 'To Klaat,' and whatever else the creative minds of T.O.K. can come up with.
From the beginning, life was about T.O.K. - school and music, says Alex. Xavier and I loved singing and were good friends. I went to school with Craig and Roshaun, so we brought them in. This was in the early 90s, during the whole emergence of Boyz II Men, so we started out singing their songs and sounding a whole lot like them. But in growing together as a unit, we developed the sound you hear now. Its about combining the hardcore dancehall sound with R&B harmonies and hip hop, thus creating something brand new.
Its more like a evolution rather than a change, notes Craigy T. We wouldnt be true to ourselves if we did straight R&B, straight covers of Boyz II Men, or tried to write songs like them. Were Jamaican. That has to come out in the music, and thats what happened, gradually. Music is music and its one big umbrella under which all the genres fall together. If you listen hard enough, you hear all the similarities.
Key to the T.O.K. evolution were a radio diet weighted equally between Stateside and home-grown sounds, vocal training from renown Jamaican coach Georgia Guerra, and years of hard time put in at high school party performances and, a bit later, on Jamaicas famed North Coast hotel lounge circuit. It was all experience for us, says Xavier. The cabaret circuit is totally different, different audiences. Actually, we werent fully accepted in the hotel circuit, says Roshaun. We werent the norm. The other groups sang straight, but we always tried to do something different. Wed do a Bob Marley song or an Ini Kamoze song like `Hot Stepper. From ever since, we tried to do things differently and bring something of our own. Now that weve got to where we are, the only time we come to hotels is when we stay there, Xavier interjects, laughing.
In Jamaica, the youths route to the hit parade is often through the annual Tastee [Patty] Talent Contest, but T.O.K.s second place showing in the 93 semi-finals was more a lesson than a leg up. We learned from our mistakes with that, then we moved on, says Roshaun. We didnt rehearse enough. We were young and giddy-headed and interested in girls.
Still, T.O.K. caught the ear of Nuff Records' Stephen Craig, and the group voiced a few tracks for the label, including a cover of Anything for You, originally recorded by 3T (Michael Jacksons nephews.) In 96, the famed drum and bass duo, aka Riddim Twins Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, released T.O.K.s Hit Them High for the Taxi label. Late that year, T.O.K. went to Main Street, dancehall hit-maker Danny Brownies studio/label, where Brownies nephew, Richard Shams Browne (son of famed guitarist Glenn Browne) was the board engineer. Just two years older than the members of T.O.K., Browne was about to launch his own label. T.O.K. wanted to be part of Main Streets stable, but Richard made his bid.
We said if you can get us a song with Lady Saw, thats it, recalls Roshaun. But T.O.K.s first track for Browne was Send Them Come over the young producers Gypsy riddim and released by his first label, High Profile. Browne then fulfilled his promise with T.O.K.s Hardcore Lover, featuring Saw and recorded over his Baddis riddim, again for High Profile. The tune soared to number 4, restoring Saw as a chart bully and establishing T.O.K. as a new force to be reckoned with.
Yet T.O.K. has many facets, and the groups softer side reveals itself in Alone, an anecdotal tale of a bereft lover mourning his dead sweetheart.
Killer harmonies, soaring leads, sinewy deejaying, tunes that hit, studly appeal, plus a canny album production that goes way beyond the usual string together proven tunes with new tunes as filler M.O. all the ingredients are in place and they translate into BREAK-OUT, big time.
We all want to keep on excelling and pushing as far as we can go, says Alex. Skys the limit. Weve found a certain chemistry and we want to maintain that chemistry and vibe. You grow with the business, track what changes are happening and adjust. We all can sing, harmonize, and deejay, so that opens a wide range of different avenues for us at any point, if any one avenue is the in thing.
Elena Oumano
