Morgan Heritage
Described as one of
music's most influential reggae acts around today, the members of Morgan Heritage have returned with their
10th album, 'Mission in Progress', a new release that captures the band bottling the power of their stage performance on disc and infusing their songs with a heavier dose of hip-hop. Produced by Morgan Heritage (with a few songs helmed by Shane Brown and Stephen McGregor son of reggae singer Freddy McGregor), Mission In Progress lyrically finds the group continuing their quest to bolster their love for both reggae and hip hop music
The new album comes after the band's second stint on the
Vans Warped Tour, the most consistently successful festival in the States over the past 10 years, and a haven for harder-edge bands, especially punk acts. The give-and-take, tension-and-release moments the band has experienced on the Warped Tour comes across on Mission in Progress: the band made sure of it, replicating tricks they use onstage, like doubling a horn line with an electric guitar—thus giving a particular track a beefier sound.
"What we have worked on for the past three albums is to mainly bring the stage to record," adds
vocalist Peter 'Jahpetes' Morgan. "A lot of people come to our shows and they're like, 'Wow, you sound so much better than your record, it's unbelievable.' And we’re like, 'Wow, what is this difference that they’re noticing that's not on the record?' They say they love the records, but when they come to the concerts, they fall in love with the group all over again.
The album's first single is
'Raid Rootz Dance' a re-imagined and renamed cover of a Steel Pulse song ("Blues Dance Raid"). The release also features "Brooklyn and Jamaica," the group call's the first song to represent both the old neighborhood and their home for the past 11 years.
Morgan Heritage Comprises of five offspring of reggae veteran Denroy Morgan, Una (vocalist/keyboardist), Peter (vocalist), Roy ('Gramps'), (keyboardist/vocalist), Nakhamyah ('Lukes') (rhythm guitarist) and Memmalatel ('Mr.Mojo'). (vocalist/MC/percussionist)
They were born in Brooklyn's tough
Bushwick neighborhood, but raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. "We've never written a song about where we come from and what we know about what we come from. Finally, it's time to write a song about where we come from," says Peter.
The band signed to MCA Records in 1992. In a dozen years, the band has racked up several
hits in Jamaica and abroad, thanks in part to collaborations with such lauded Jamaican producers as Lloyd “King Jammy” James and Bobby Digital.
"The main point in Mission in Progress, says Gramps, "is that we're on a musical mission, trying to take reggae to the next level, and put our stamp, and
mark our history in reggae. Yeah, a lot of reggae bands have been here, and have come and gone. And there’s a lot coming, a lot here: There are reggae bands from all over the world. You got German reggae bands, Italian reggae bands, Canadian reggae bands, Brazilian reggae bands. So what does Morgan Heritage bring to the table? We bring reggae music that rocks."
Morgan Heritage's European Sound System tour is taking place to promote their highly anticipated forthcoming album, "Mission In Progress", which is set to be released by VP Records on April 15, 2008. The single from the album, "Raid Rootz Dance", will be released on April 8th.
Morgan Heritage have come up with an innovative new way of keeping in touch with their fans whilst they are on their European Sound System tour. The ubër cool quintet have been 'micro-blogging', using the increasingly popular social networking site,
Twitter, which allows them to send regular updates via their own mobile phones.
Not only are these updates posted to their own page on the site, but
fans can also receive alerts on their own phone to give them the 411 with what the band are up to; from the places they go, to the things that they see and do, and sometimes even the family’s personal thoughts.
The Royal family of Reggae have also been keeping an
online tour diary , using exclusive video footage of the band performing as well as some funny behind the scenes moments including Mr Mojo’s Taxi and language dilemma in Berlin!!
This
online presence of the band now means that their fans can have Access All Areas without a VIP pass or even leave the comfort of their own home. Fans are also encouraged to leave messages for the band as because of the wonders of technology, they will be able to check them out whenever and wherever they are.
