AFTERLIFE OUT NOW 

bitly.ws/CMZ9

Since launching the Datsik brand, Troy Beetles continues to evolve as a solo artist all the while pushing his beloved bass music world to new lengths, both on a personal artistry level and as a genre as a whole. From bedroom producer to chart-topping artist, internationally touring act, and owner and founder of the enterprising Firepower Records, Datsik is poised to make bass music the sound of the future with his recent Down 4 My Ninjas EP (Nov. 2014 / Firepower Records) and upcoming release Smoke Bomb ft. Snoop Dogg (Nov. 2015 / Ultra Records). 

Datsik took his initial steps into global dominance in 2009 with his first official release, the Nuke ‘Em EP, which set the new precedence of the future of dubstep and bass music. Immediately following that was the Boom EP featuring Excision and the legendary Flux Pavilion as collaborators. In that same year, Datsik claimed 10 Beatport #1 releases. Additionally, he has also released massive remixes for dance music icons Skrillex, Diplo, Kaskade, and Zedd, as well as two collaborations with Bassnectar and two more with Diplo on his Express Yourself EP. He has also remixed artists from the mainstream pop world and hip-hop spheres such as Coldplay, Lil Wayne, MGMT, Linkin Park, Wu-Tang Clan, one of the biggest influences on his sound, and, most recently, Lana Del Rey.

Nonetheless, Vitamin D, his debut artist album released on Dim Mak Records in 2012, remains his gleaming trophy of work. Rightfully so, as Vitamin D was the first project to illustrate the full spectrum of Datsik’s production cannon and to give glimpses of the artist’s potential as a producer and songwriter. Vitamin D was the first major milestone of many to come in the Datsik storyline. The next chapter came in 2013 in the form of a two-part release, the Cold Blooded EP and the corresponding Let It Burn full-length album, both released on Firepower. While shorter in length, Cold Blooded packs as much a punch as big brother Let It Burn. Hand in hand, Cold Blooded and Let It Burn comprise the knockout one-two punch in Datsik’s artillery.

Datsik stands at a point of transition with his recent EP Down 4 My Ninjas. It exemplifies a more mature Datsik, both in sound and in vision, as it sees the producer taking vast steps outside of dubstep and deeper into his ever-burning fondness for hip-hop. In essence, it is his love letter to the hip-hop and bass music genres and sees a full circle for Datsik as it combines the best of both worlds. Featuring collaborations with DJ Paul of renowned Southern rap group Three 6 Mafia and the legendary KRS-One, Down 4 My Ninjas sees Datsik keeping one foot in bass and one foot in hip-hop and, for the first time ever, sees the artist pairing his original productions with bona fide, universally celebrated members of the rap world. 

With Down 4 My Ninjas in tow and a hefty supporting tour scheduled for 2015, expectations are higher than they’ve ever been for Datsik. Beetles welcomes the challenge, though. It’s what’s kept him developing since those bedroom producer days, and it’s what verifies Datsik as one of the leading figures in the bass music scene of today and tomorrow.

Damian Robert Nesta Marley, also known around the world as “Junior Gong” and more recently as “Gongzilla” was born in 1978 to parents Bob Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976.  As a young adult, he developed a passion and a gift to speak for those who cannot always speak for themselves. A self-proclaimed ‘Spiritual Revolutionary’, Damian has worked assiduously to carve his own niche in music history and to add a new perspective to the Marley legacy for the 21st century. 

At the age of 13, Damian began performing in a group called “The Shepherds” which comprised of Shiah Coore (son of Third World guitarist Cat Coore) and currently a member of his band, and Yashema Beth McGreggor, daughter of reggae singers Freddie Mcgreggor and Judy Mowatt and then began touring with his brothers, Stephen, Ky-mani, Julian and Ziggy. 

By 1996, Damian had already made his stamp as a different kind of Marley when he released his first solo album “Mr. Marley”, a heavily dancehall-influenced album produced by his brother Stephen Marley.  His second album “Halfway Tree” was released in 2001 by a major record label and showcased Damian’s unique gift for blending dancehall, reggae and hip-hop styles.  This album won Damian much recognition and remained on the Billboard Top Reggae Album Charts for 158 weeks and earned him his first Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2002. 
While honored by this recognition by the global music fraternity, Damian continued to work in the studio, laying the groundwork for the tracks that would become his highly anticipated album, “Welcome To Jamrock”. The lyrics in this album presented Marley as a true spiritual revolutionary, as he used his talent to evoke a spiritual change while trying to enforce a better way of thinking.  He is described as “rhyming with the conviction of a street preacher with the intellect of a university economist”.  

Damian’s hit single “Welcome to Jamrock” was listed as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Decade by Rolling Stone, and at the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Welcome to Jamrock. Damian is the only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category at the Grammy Awards. The New York Times called Welcome to Jamrock the “best reggae song of the decade.” 
Welcome to Jamrock led the pathway to Damian’s critically acclaimed collaboration with Nas for 2010’s much lauded album “Distant Relatives” – a project which explored the relationships between reggae, hip-hop and Africa. The album title refers not only to the bond between the artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which inspired the album both musically and lyrically. USA Today referred to the album as a “potent and often provocative collaboration” and by Rolling Stone as “an Afrocentric winner.” The album debuted at Number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and Number 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Rap Albums and Reggae Albums charts, with Billboard heralding the album as “a dynamic hybrid.”    

The Distant Relatives Tour kicked off in 2011 and saw Damian traveling and performing for thousands of fans all over the world, including South America, Europe, The United Kingdom, The Caribbean and North America.  

Damian continued to cross musical boundaries in 2012, as he went on to partner with Skrillex for their groundbreaking track “Make It Bun Dem”, which Rolling Stone called “a monster mash up of dubstep and dancehall” and has led to several remixes of the original version.  Damian recently released two other singles; “Set Up Shop” and  “Affairs of the Heart” which both received widespread airplay. 

Damian continues to tour with his band all over the world as a way of entertaining and healing as he continues to spread the message for those whose voices cannot be heard. He is working with his brothers Stephen and Julian under their Ghetto Youths International Label, to discover, develop and sign gifted artistes by applying their musical talent and vast experience to create new and different styles of music.  

Damian is currently in the studio working on his upcoming solo album.

Grammy-nominated reggae/hip-hop/alternative artist. The new self-titled album, Matisyahu, is out now on vinyl, digital and CD.

admrl_akbr is following