Macka B
Macka B , actually Christopher MacFarlane (* 1966 in Wolverhampton , England ) is a British reggae artist .
Life
MacFarlane was influenced very early by the Lord Barley sound system , who hosted blues parties in his neighborhood, and has since fallen into reggae. In school he learned to play the violin and joined the school choir. In his spare time he was inspired by well-known artists such as Burning Spear , Bob Marley , Peter Tosh and Count Ossie . After leaving school, he planned a career as an engineer and began technical training at Ever Ready , which failed, however, as the factory closed. After that, Macka B practiced DJing more intensively and decided to live according to the rules of the Rastafarian belief , which became the center of his life. Macka B first got active in the Exodus sound system with some friends.
A visit to Jamaica in 1982 helped him to further develop his skills and in 1983 enabled him to take part and win in a DJ competition at the Rising Star Club in Bilston against Pato Banton & Rankin Ann , among others . He was then invited to numerous radio broadcasts and his popularity grew.
He gave a lot of live concerts with a band called Pre-Wax and played on Channel 4's Rockers Road Show . In addition, Pre-Wax released the vinyl record "Maggie's Letter" with the help of the producer Papa P., which became a regional success.
When Derek Nelson , the producer of Ebony BBC2 , discovered Macka B, he hired him for regular appearances on the next series.
Macka B also worked with the Wassifa sound systems, mainly Birmingham, Skippy and Lippy, throughout the period . After a few tapes, Fashion Records became aware of Macka B and invited him to record. "Bible Reader" was released and was quite successful in the reggae singles charts.
After a meeting with Mad Professor Macka B got under contract with the label Ariwa and recorded the LP "Sign of the Times", which took No. 1 in the reggae LP charts. He appeared at Channel 4 Club Mix and in 1986 at Sunsplash at Wembley Arena and started a European tour . Macka B released his second album "We've Had Enough" in 1987. In 1988 he visited Jamaica again and recorded "Love it in Jamaica" and "Slow Down Driver" for the Black Scorpio label and "Looks are Deceiving" for Ariwa up.
In 1989 he released the LP " Buppie Culture", which contained the single "Dread a who she love", a duet with Kofi, which was once again No. 1 in the reggae single charts. In 1990 he celebrated the liberation of Nelson Mandela with the single "Proud of Mandela" , which later appeared on the album "Natural Suntan". Macka B was then the first British reggae artist to tour Australia.
In the 1990s Macka B recorded eight more albums for Ariwa and continued to work with other artists and labels. Macka B has performed twice at the Reggae Sunsplash and the Sting & White River Reggae Bash in Jamaica. He has toured Japan, America, Botswana, Hawaii, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Spain and Poland during his career.
Macka B was the first reggae artist to tour the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia).
Macka B lives vegan, is a member of the Vegan Society and recently started making songs about vegetables and fruit.
Discography
- 1986 - Sign of the Times (Ariwa)
- 1987 - We've Had Enough (Ariwa)
- 1988 - Looks are Deceiving (Ariwa)
- 1989 - Buppie Culture (Ariwa)
- 1990 - Natural Suntan (Ariwa)
- 1991 - Peace Cup (Ariwa)
- 1992 - Jamaica, No Problem? (Ariwa)
- 1993 - Roots Ragga (Ariwa)
- 1994 - Here Comes Trouble (Ariwa)
- 1995 - Discrimination (Ariwa)
- 1995 - Hold on to Your Culture (Ariwa)
- 1998 - Suspicious (Ariwa)
- 1999 - Roots & Culture (Ariwa)
- 2000 - Global Messenger (Ariwa)
- 2000 - Live Again Roots Ragga 2 (Ariwa)
- 2003 - By Royale Command (with The Royale Roots Band)
- 2004 - Word Sound & Power (Charm)
- 2008 - More Knowledge
- 2012 - Change The World
- 2015 - Never Played a 45 (VP)
- 2017 - Health Is Wealth ( Greensleeves Records )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Macka.B | The Huffington Post. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 15, 2017 ; Retrieved May 4, 2017 (UK English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ This cucumber rap really makes you want healthy food . In: DASDING.de . ( dasding.de [accessed on May 4, 2017]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Macka B |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | MacFarlane, Christopher (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British reggae artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1966 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wolverhampton , England |