Jamaicans - Caribbean people's buying power in South Florida

Quotation from: - The Sun-Sentinel

Featuring: -"The Caribbean influence in South Florida"

Miramar's star rises rapidly in reggae industry

Posted May 17 2003

On the night he released his sixth album, Jamaican singer Scion Sashay Success made an appearance in what many consider to be the No. 2 reggae capital of the world: South Florida.

For years, South Florida trailed New York as the second center for reggae after Jamaica. But a boom in the Caribbean population has turned the area, especially Miramar, into a focal point for the industry's artists, producers, sound systems, promoters, studios, nightclubs and music stores.

Prominent Jamaican artists come here frequently to meet with promoters, who take their music from the Miramar studios all the way to clubs in Japan. Caribbean radio stations are flourishing, such local clubs as Stingerz have big-name artists almost weekly and the city is including reggae performances among its official events.

South Florida's weather helps, fostering an authentic Caribbean vibe that feeds on the nostalgia of those who see the music as an instrument to connect with the Jamaica they left behind.

Miramar's city manager, Bob Payton, said city officials first noticed the popularity of reggae music five years ago, when a reggae performance at the River Run neighborhood park drew so many people they had to turn some away.

The music is "creating bridges in our community," Payton said. "... he said it will be a key part of the entertainment at the city's new town center.

Popularity rises

Lloyd Campbell, owner of the local Joe Fraser label, has seen reggae soar in South Florida during the past 10 years.

"Before it was Jamaica, and then New York, when it comes to reggae," he said. "Now it's Jamaica, South Florida, then New York."

"People are talking about South Florida here all the time," said Desmond Patterson, from his record store in Jamaica. "It's a tropical state, you have more time to party than in New York and it's only an hour and 15 minutes

away."

Patterson also owns the Rainbow Variety record store in Lauderhill and travels weekly to Jamaica to import new records. He also moved to Florida from New York in 1984.

Jamaican immigration

Jamaicans make up one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Broward County, with Lauderhill and Miramar anchoring the growth.

Howard Chung, general manager of VP Records Distributors, has stores in Miramar and New York that distribute almost 80 percent of all the reggae records sold in the United States.

"I just love to be in South Florida," he said. "Miramar is a great location. People come here two or three times a week just to buy. They always want that new song, that new rhythm, that new beat."

"I don't think that reggae gets the notice that it should," Chung said. But in South Florida the demand is consistent.

Central spot

There are myriad well-known studios in Miami-Dade that attract artists to record their music.

Many of these recordings are influencing reggae music in other parts of the world.

"You can pick up a record that soothes every problem of your life," says Duke of Earl, a radio host for WAVS radio. "Reggae music brings the community much closer."

Luther McKenzie, a local producer and promoter whose radio show, Music Lessons, airs every Tuesday on WAVS, says South Florida attracts Jamaican singers with its climate, people and studios, which maintain the cultural authenticity of home. It's what they refer to as the vibe.

"When it comes to reggae studios, it's not only quality that matters," McKenzie says. "It's more than the quality of the equipment. It's knowing the culture.

- Posted May 17 2003

2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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