Daniel and Stephen keep the Big Ship sailing

Entertainers, like everyone else, do not always live up to their promises, whether to the media or otherwise. But, like in everything else, there are exceptions to the rule. Two years ago, the Sunday Observer of February 5, 2006, carried an article beneath the headline “McGregor brothers, in operation takeover of the Big Ship family”.

The article speaks to the then aspirations of Daniel, aka Chino and Stephen McGregor. In that piece written by yours truly, the two sons of veteran reggae crooner, Freddie McGregor, alerted the music industry of their impending rise to prominence in short order. “2006 is operation takeover,” declared Chino.

Such was the brassness, unflinching passion, confidence and vision of this avant-garde artiste who is well aware of his talent and finding comfort in the security of his antecedence.
As time has proven, it was no idle boast on his part, it was more of a warning, for Daniel ‘Chino’ McGregor and younger brother Stephen, have measured up immensely to his prognostication when he asserted in the article mentioned above, “We’re unstoppable”.

Chino, dropped his debut album, Unstoppable, in Japan towards the end of last year. “The Japan leg of the album was released November 2007, and a music magazine in Japan ranked it the number 4 best reggae album in Japan for 2007,” he told Splash.

The US version of the album will be available in the summer and for him the project was ” jus ole heap of work. More singles, more videos. The last video we did was a medley . was number one on RETV Video Count Down Chart for couple weeks well, and doing very well in Japan, can’t complain.

“The tour was great . me, Singing Sweet, Freddie McGregor and the Millennium Band. We did Holland, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, London, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, crazy, crazy crazy….every night di show dem a murder. The people dem can’t wait to have us back sometime this year. And we are looking to go back to Europe as well as Japan sometime around the summer. It’s a joy winning some of my father’s fans who are some of the more mature ones.”

While Chino is the entertainer out front facing the spotlight as the new voice and emerging pilot of Big Ship, younger sibling Stephen is the artiste whose creative genius is more restricted to his inside the studio performances.

“My role is music producer of dancehall production for Big Ship. I don’t really tour, I don’t leave the studio too much, because my side of the thing this, this is my side of the work.

I’m responsible for most of the new stuff, all of Chino stuff,” explained Stephen who recently earned recognition for his mastery as one of the leading rhythm creators at the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam)/Reggae Academy Awards for both the Best Dancehall Rhythm – Tremor – on and for which he won the Best Dancehall Compilation Album.

“It’s about nuff sleepless nights,” said the teenage innovator of some of the more current dancehall riddims like Bees Hives, Chiney K, Darker Shadow, Red Bull and Guinness, Power Cut, Tremor, Dark Again, Shadow, Darker Shadow and Chiney K, After Dark, Party Riddim, and Stick Up.

In addition, young Stephen, who created no less than five rhythms for his father’s last album, Coming in Tough, is currently adding his expertise to another album his dad has in the making. “The new one a go crazy. Believe me, it’s a different idea…it’s like some of his hit songs weh people know bout, mi kinda do it inna a semi-acoustic type of vibes, and feature some of the current dancehall artistes in collaboration, ye mon. A lot of stuff in the pipeline right now, so just keep listening.”

Source: JamaicaObserver