SONGWRITER Steve Lindo said that he wrote seven songs for Tony Rebel’s Flames Production, including Ghetto People Song, using the Lalibela rhythm.
Ghetto People Song, according to the ex-soldier, a cousin of Tony Rebel, was inspired on a rainy day at the intersection of Little Kew and Lyndhurst roads, where he was on his way to pick up Tony Rebel’s children from Wolmer’s High School for Girls.
“The AC never worked, and the place flooded. We wind down the window because the car started making an odd noise, which gave me an idea. In addition, there was an elderly woman who was homeless across the street, and I could feel her suffering, so Jah made me feel these things, and I immediately began writing the song. And Manna Panna asks: “What are you doing? Write a song after the automobile vibrates? Yup, no problem! So I wrote the Ghetto People Song,” he said.
Ghetto People Song (1996) was written in collaboration with Everton Blender, Tony Rebel, and Lindo.
According to Lindo, the first song written for the project, Oh Jah by Sugar Black and Lebanculah, served as the inspiration for all subsequent compositions.
“I composed Oh Jah for Lebanculah and Sugar Black. The first song created for the riddim, it served as the model for all subsequent tracks on the riddim. Therefore, when Ras Shiloh arrived from abroad and I was with him on a roll when he sang Are You Satisfied, it licked Tony Rebel’s brain and he said, “I fi create songs for the complete ah Flames [Production],” and I replied, “I already have Blender song.”
Ah me and Shanty Plus write it, me and him par; him know all of the song dem so me and Shanty siddown pon di the stairs at Penthouse (when it deh pon Slipe Road where Shocking Vibes used to be). Me and him teach Blender the song and the three of we walk go inna the studio go record it,” Lindo told Advertafrica.net.
Since he was the producer, Lindo claimed Rebel removed a verse from the original song, added a few lyrics, and the song was then born. Including Ghetto People Song, Lindo claimed he never formally registered a copyright for the songs he had written.
“Me deal with all these songs through poor man’s copyright,” he said.
French Montana and Harry Fraud’s Higher, which was made available on Friday as part of their new collaborative album Montega, has given the Ghetto People Song a boost.
The hit song If Jah (Is Standing By My Side), Ras Shiloh’s breakout song Are You Satisfied, Aaron Silk’s The Right Path, Manna Fanna’s Black People Unite, Uton Green’s No Looking Back, and Shanty Plus’s Moving East were all included on Tony Rebel’s Lalibela rhythm, which was released on his Flames label.
