Ardie Cuban Cohiba’s Success Self-Made Insists Capsicum Records

Capsicum Records/mario cheef ent reggae artist Cuban Cohiba credits the growth and popularity of his world-wide tour and household name to Capsicum label’s co-executive producers Roger Meltzer,Stampede Lammie,s Street Charts in Jamaica for frist putting his real Cuban Cohiba Cigar image on his artist of the month artist to watch charts that blast Cuban Cohiba to be know global today, and Osborne “Ifield” Joseph of Paco Recordings who lay down the tracks for the title tune (Enuf Is Enough, his sponsors at Bud Lite, Hickey Brothers Cigars and Red Stripe, the hard work of Chief Entertainment headed by his manager-son, hip-hop artist and beat-maker Mario Cheef Wallace, the talents of his backing Dis ‘n’ Dat Band featuring Grammy drummer Rango and singer/keyboardist Sister Dee,John Pangani (Promotor) from Malawi Africa/www.Southbendreggae.com who frist gave him a chance to play in the Stadieum in Indiana and Ambassador David Baumer who all believe in the reggae artist
But label CEO and Director of A&R Meltzer insists Cohiba gives him too much credit for the Cigar Man’s mushrooming success.he believes his artist Cuban Cohiba did it on his own by posing with that Real Custom Built Hand Made Expensive (Cuban Cohiba Cigar) which is one of the most costly on the market that he changes everday,Cuban Cohiba use that image to market himself worldwide and have people cant takeing their eyes off him where ever he goes,in airports etc,its not that they never seen a person with a Cigar before it’s the way he pose with it says many of his many women fan,s
“I don’t think it takes all that much genius for someone in our business for 34 years to recognize a songwriting and recording talent like Cuban’s,” says Meltzer. His gratitude, a very rare commodity in our industry, is touching, but most of the credit belongs to his own work ethic and God-given talent.even in the world of promoting concerts Cuban was very good at it he,s the only one to ever brought the king of reggae Bob Marley into Hartford conn on his last tour on earth at the Bushnell,then Peter Tosh/Rollin Stones to Toads Place New Haven,after Bob Marley and Peter Tosh Past on Cuban Cohiba went on to working with their son,s Stephen/Ziggy Marley who he also brought to hartford conn at age 13 years old to a over pack venue on blue hills ave,then went on to bringing Andrew Tosh,Dennis Brown,Gregor Issaces,Yellowman,Burin Spears,Jimmy Cliff,Beres Hammond the list is just too long for short let,s just say if a reggae artist come,s to your mind,Cuban Cohiba had worked with them in some form,there is no -R-in reggae unless Cuban Cohiba name is mention says one media in Miami Fl

Cuban Cohiba more or less fell into my lap says capsicum. Originally I had been introduced to Cuban as the top concert promoter in the Greater Hartford area, where our indie label is now based. At the time, he was helping me recruit artists for our inaugural ‘Reggae-In-Fusion’ compilation album. We were riding around, going to various radio stations asking the best local wanna-bes to audition, when he popped in a CD with beats that his son and manage Mario Cheef had made and various borrowed beats and started singing original songs to them. I was stunned.
“It wasn’t a Beres Hammond, Garnet Silk or Dennis Brown voice, but this guy just knew how to put together, and put over, a song. The songs ran the gamut of human emotions and concerns — funny, tender, sad, political; they were all incredibly hooky in their chorus melodies and lyrics; and the more we hung out together, the more I learned about his musical inspirations and mentors. I simply made up my mind I would produce a couple of original rhythm tracks for one or two of my favorites and include them on our debut CD. He wrote one, and I wrote the other with his fellow Capsicum artist, Sal Anthony.”
Musically a “late bloomer” by industry standards, the Montego Bay/St. James parish of Jamaica native waited until he was in his high school band before he found his true love was music. But right after high school, he met reggae icon Toots and the Maytals and was hypnotized by the way they played. He soon met another reggae immortal, Peter Tosh, who would become his best friend and mentor. Tosh not only taught Cuban how to hold a note and how to harmonize with it, but also how to promote a show and the “business of the business.”By the late 80s, Cuban had formed his own band as the lead singer of Rhythm Force, touring with Horace Andy, Josey Wales and others. In the early 90s, though, Cuban decided he wanted to try his hand at promoting live concerts, so he put both his band and singing on hold, working instead with every major reggae artist out of Jamaica. Cuban single-handedly put Connecticut on the reggae concert tour map, so much so that the Mayor of Hartford proclaimed every August 15th from 2008 on to be Ardie Cuban Wallace Day and presented him with a key to the city. The subject of two major NY Times interviews, concert promotion was what he’d been doing exclusively until “Enuf Is Enough” was released in Jamaica and New England.
Added at the last minute to the album, the song reflects the community’s helpless frustration and anguish over the senseless gun violence that plagues its urban streets, capturing its repetitive and numbing impact in an original fusion of southern hip-hop and dancehall reggae with an A-Kon-influenced r&b ballad feel in the midst of a New Orleans jazz funeral procession, its beat punctuated by bursts of automatic weapons, squealing tires, condolence calls, and pealing church cemetery bells, its all too timely message reinforced by the commentary of the inimitable Shabba Ranks. With its message about society’s tolerance of gun violence on urban streets and even rural campuses, the song gained a second surge of airplay in Jamaica when civil unrest and a subsequent national state of emergency erupted in Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston in the spring of 2010.
“But it’s not true that his song was written in response to that event,” says Meltzer who co-produced the song with Osborne “Ifield” Joseph. “The song had been released in February of 2010 and had been playing on Jamaican radio stations for three months prior to Tivoli. The song was actually inspired by the fatal 2009 shooting of an infant in the crossfire of rival drug gangs during the Caribbean Independence Day Parade in Hartford CT in the US. Cuban brought me the song two days later, and Ifield and I spent considerable time building a track that reflected the tragic feel and sounds of this all-too-familiar bloodshed on our streets.”

Meltzer himself credits co-producer, musician and studio engineer Joseph with creating much of the label’s unique reggae-in-fusion sound, which Jamaican icon radio deejay Richie B has dubbed “roots on the bottom, and pop on the top.”

Osborne “Ifield” Joseph

“Ifield brings the unmistakable Caribbean component to our music; I just bring in my original songs and the r&b, gospel, modern country, rockabilly, modern country, pop, hip-hop, and jazz influences I was exposed to coming up in the business. The grooves are his. I put my two cents in when we first take a direction and tempo, and again when we start polishing the details of the rhythm tracks and arrangements, but there is no reggae in Capsicum’s reggae-in-fusion without Ifield

“People at Mighty Three Music and Gamble-Huff Productions who didn’t know me from a can of paint and for whom I could do nothing gave me a chance to learn and prove myself; they spent countless hours mentoring me and promoting my work. What is unique about Cuban is what he has done with the tools and opportunities we have made available to him. He built his own world-wide tour from the ground up. We didn’t hand him that, or his corporate sponsors. People forget how many shows Cuban travelled to, even at his own expense, just to perform wherever and whenever he could to build his fan-base. I’m just doing the same thing for Cuban and the other talent on our roster that was done for me — giving them a chance to do their thing.

Cuban Cohiba next big project is now in productions a tune he wrote title Don’t Cry that will have the voice of jamaica,s new reggae princess www.outaroad.com prize (Tiana) who had done tunes and video,s with top artist,s like vybes kartel,and many more could be seen at their site,for sure the ever popular Derrick Barnett Playing Bass on a new original track laid by Everton Reality Wilkes,the track was once done by ifield for Cuban Cohiba not for release,Cuban says he was waiting on the right female voice that he herd in his head to put on it,he now hear and found the right talent in-Tiana-the new voice of reggae and a true princess manage by Carly of outaroad.com

for more on Cuban Cohiba join his www.facebook.com/ardie cuban wallace–www.youtube.com/ardiewallace1-or-ardie cuban–www.reverbnation.com/ardiecubancohiba–www.capsicumrecords.com,for booking contact mario cheef ent-352-340-6698-email ardiecuban@aol.com”