New York dub and reggae music has been on the move this past week, as the Dub Invasion festival has left downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn swamped in a haze awash with reverb and cavernous echo. So this week, we’re releasing for your listening pleasure a new track by Brooklyn-based dub maestro, Prince Polo. Stop by each Sunday for a new MP3 Leak of the Week, that runs from Sunday to Saturday on the home page for FREE download
Polo will be releasing his latest album, Brooklyn Bodega within a month or so, but not before giving The Pier the track “Witness Protection”, which is Polo’s smoky dub take on “Speak Softly Love,” better known as the theme from Francis Ford Coppola’s mob classic “The Godfather.”
Prince Polo –Witness Protection
Polo had this to say about the track’s development,
“I’d always wanted to do a reggae version of “Speak Softly Love,” The Godfather theme. Ken Boothe had recorded an amazing version of the translated Sicilian folk version, but I thought it deserved a dub tribute as well. So when my friend Borham Lee from Break Science was in town for a little while, I told him to roll into the studio. The Polish Armada had built the Riddim and Bo just LACED IT with the Melodica! And when our rub-a-dub deejay Daddy Marshall showed up and heard it, he was like “I got this, lets do it,” no hesitation, and it all just came together…”
Prince Polo Bio/Background:
Reggae/dub artist and producer Prince Polo aka Billy Szeflinski, is a Brooklyn based dub producer, musician, and engineer, following in the tradition of reggae producers like King Tubby and Henry “Junjo” Lawes. He has been making a name for himself in the reggae scene since the late 90’s as a writer/performer/and producer, and has recently been gaining recognition for his progressive approach to recording and mixing reggae and dub music. As a sound engineer at The Kennel Studios in Bushwick, he’s been the man behind the board for live and studio sessions with such artists as Lee Scratch Perry, Eek a Mouse, Destroy Baylon, I Wayne, Rebelution, The Expendables, and Ultra-magnetic MCs, just to name a few.
In addition to a regular touring schedule, Prince Polo is pulling double duty as the chief engineer for the “Dub Rockers” project with VP/Greensleeves Records. The project is focusing on the collaborations within in the reggae genre that *are* transcending boarders and boundaries, and will feature artists like Inner Circle, Slightly Stoopid, Capleton, Fishbone, Bad Brains, and more.
For more Prince Polo and other tracks from the Dubshot family, check out the compilation albums “Future Sounds of Reggae Vol. 1 & 2” featuring Rebelution, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Rootz Underground and many more.
Be on the lookout for Polo’s new album, “Brooklyn Bodega,” later this month coming courtesy of Dubshot Records, as well as the latest installments from VP/Greensleeves “Dub Rockers” project.
Enjoy the FREE track on the Home Page!
–Chris Castro
