TONY KELLY
Oct 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Aaron Schultz
Although reggae and dancehall are by no means stagnant genres, to get the best of their production, you have to sort through a lot of copycat rhythms that sound like they were banged out in an hour of borrowed studio time. Yet many of the big tunes that break in the United States are often not only the catchiest but also the most progressive sounds coming out of Jamaica. And many of these songs come from the King of the Dancehall himself: Tony “CD” Kelly. Tracks such as Sean Paul's “Deport Dem,” Sasha's “Dat Sexy Body,” Kevin Lyttle's “Drive Me Crazy,” Beenie Man's “King of the Dancehall” and Tanto Metro & Devonte's “Everyone Falls in Love” have burned up dancehalls from Kingston, Jamaica, to Tokyo, and all are notches in Kelly's impressive production belt.
Born and raised in Jamaica, Kelly got his production chops in the mid-'80s as an assistant engineer at Kingston's illustrious Tuff Gong studios. There, he worked alongside legendary engineers Errol Brown and Scientist while recording and producing the likes of Sly and Robbie, Yellowman and Freddie McGregor. “At that time, the engineers acted more like producers,” Kelly says. “Tuff Gong was where I really learned about timing and flow, what's right and what's wrong, what's in phase and what's out of phase.”
After cutting his teeth in Kingston, Kelly went on in the '90s to become one of the crucial figures involved with breaking the dancehall sound in the States. Tony produced a number of tracks for crossover artists such as Shaggy, Mad Cobra, Buju Banton and Patra, the latter whose 1993 album Queen of the Pack (Epic) entered into the American pop charts and gave Kelly his first Gold record.
However, the injection of U.S. money into Jamaica's unique and notoriously tumultuous music scene created a problem in a place where copyright rules are routinely ignored and artists rarely compensated. So even while creating monster hits stateside, Kelly kept his feet planted firmly on the ground, continuing to work with younger artists who needed a break. “These kids know when they deal with me that I'm a brother, and whatever they deserve, they're going to get,” he says. “And the music scene in Jamaica is finally starting to get more on a professional level now. A lot of the artists aren't as well educated as they should be, but they're getting smarter about their business, learning about publishing and starting to really understand their rights.”
Although Kelly's ethics may have enabled him to stay afloat in a turbulent time for Jamaican music, his production skills have taken him to the top of it. Working with both the Digidesign ProControl console in a studio in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area and on a Digi Pro Tools|HD 3 system in his home studio in Kingston, Kelly has crafted a catchy, melody-driven sound few can touch. “I get different vibes in so many different ways,” he says. “Like today, I started with a little shaker and built something up from there. Sometimes, I start with a clap or a kick — it's never the same.” Another large source of inspiration for Kelly comes from various sample CDs for his Akai MPC4000. “I have a crazy amount of sounds for my MPC, and I'm constantly searching out more,” he says. “It's one of the big things that gives me ideas. As soon as I hear a new sound, my brain starts to take over, and I go with it.”
With Jamaican music, the core is always the rhythm — or riddim — section. “My drums are usually a combination of a whole bunch of different kicks I put together,” Kelly says. “I crunch them down and compress them, sometimes in Pro Tools and sometimes in my MPC4000. And my bass lines either come from an amazing bass player I work with, Maurice Gregory, or out through my [E-mu] Proteus 2000,” which gives the bass line an all-encompassing warmth that's signature to his sound.
In the end, though, what's crucial to Kelly in creating a unique dancehall track isn't necessarily what tools producers have, but how much of themselves they put into the work using those tools. “Be melodious,” he advises. “Really sit down and think about what you're doing, and really spend time producing your stuff. Don't try to be like the others.”
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