Cham Reveals ‘Another Level’ Was Written For Shabba Ranks
The magic of Dave Kelly’s Madhouse Productions has contributed several classics to Dancehall’s storybook, including Bounty Killer and Cham’s Another Level.
Nestled on the dark but mesmerizing Bug riddim, the track debuted in 1999 and showcased both artists’ vocal and lyrical prowess, with duo Brian and Tony Gold on background vocals. With the deejays currently promoting their collaborative Time Bomb EP produced by Kelly, they reflected on the monster hit that paved the way for this project. The biggest bombshell of all? That Another Level was penned for Shabba Ranks.
In a documentary released on Friday, Kelly shared how juggling projects would have two or more installments in one year and that the first release of the Bug riddim featured Bounty Killer’s Look Into My Eyes and Cham’s Jamaica Feel Proud. For the second drop of the riddim, Kelly hoped to work with the ‘Dancehall Emperor.’
“It was always a dream of mine to record Shabba and I had the song that if Shabba do dah song yah, if dah song yah drop, it’s gonna be something totally epic,” the elusive producer said.
As the heavens would have it, Cham was rostered for a concert with Ranks overseas. According to the Ghetto Story hitmaker, Ranks was desirous of working with the successful producer, too.
“I came back to Jamaica and tell Dave that, ‘Yow, Shabba Ranks wants to link. Anyway, the link made and Another Level was written basically for Shabba Ranks.”
Kelly recalled Ranks liking the idea and flying to Jamaica to record the song, but his vision would never materialize.
“Because of some stupid politics, Shabba didn’t turn up to the studio,” Cham shared. “That’s when Dave said, ‘You know what? I think everything work for a reason’.”
Kelly picked up, “We not gonna waste the song cause we know this song is a hit song. We know anytime people hear this, it’s gonna be special – it’s gonna be classic, instantly.”
And so he turned his attention to Bounty Killer and Cham.
“That’s how Another Level became Another Level,” Cham said. “It wasn’t something that was planned. We knew we had to do a combination, we had to do a collab together because the streets wanted it.”
Bounty was already psyched to be on the riddim again, acknowledging that Look Into My Eyes was his biggest record that year.
“So fi go again on the rhythm, we never have no question,” Bounty said. “We nuh matter who di song did write for, we just ready fi put another song and then listening to the song, the song tough cause it’s a real, serious, piece ah anthem. It’s an anthem til this day.”
The record saw fans calling for more collaborations between the artists, which was thrown out when they fell out in the early 2000s. They reconciled a few years later, and reignited the pleas for a joint project.
“The fans were always saying, ‘Boy, Another Level is a special combination’. Nothing like that was done before and we’ve not done it since, and they’re always saying, ‘How come they don’t do another song together?’. People know that Cham and Killer have a special relationship. They’re close, they’re like brothers.”
Cham and Bounty first met in the mid 90s at Arrows recording studio in East Kingston. At the time, Cham, a student of Calabar High School, was a proud fan of Bounty’s work, and soon became his protege as Bounty was also drawn to his dedication and enthusiasm.
They started working with Kelly in 1996, and together released the seven-track Time Bomb EP on Friday. The set features the already-released Slow Motion single with Dexta Daps and the title track Time Bomb.
Watch the full documentary above.