More aid from dancehall goes to disaster-stricken Japan

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Connecting the dots of their musical and cultural homes with their native country, Japanese dancehall-reggae sound Mighty Crown is hosting a benefit concert in New York to aid Japan.

Using the strong musical link between Jamaica and Japan, Mighty Crown will be hosting 'Reggae 4 Japan' on April 21 at York College in Queens, New York, to support Japan's earthquake/tsunami relief efforts.

On March 11, an earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, causing a devastating tsunami that swept over cities and farmland in the northern part of the country and set off warnings as far away as the west coast of the United States and South America.

Recorded as 9.0 on the Richter scale, it was the most powerful quake ever to hit the country.

As the nation struggled with rescue efforts, it also faced a nuclear emergency with increasing radiation levels, stemming from a damaged reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Spent fuel rods at another reactor overheated and caught fire, releasing radioactive material directly into the atmosphere. Weeks later, Japan is still in the midst of trying to cope with the disaster. Miles away in Yokohama, Japan, Mighty Crown's Simon Tse said while he was not in the midst of the tsunami disaster, he still felt the effects.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner recently he said, "I was in Yokohama when it happened, 30 minutes away from Toyoko, which is like 400 kilometres away. I felt the tremor, the building was shaking, the windows were cracking, there was no light, no food. There were huge lines for gasolene, you had to wait like two to three hours. It was crazy and I live far away, not in the centre of it all. Right now, the people are still in a panic."

Heads to Japan this week

Mighty Crown's members returned to Jamaica for the first time since the disaster last week to work on the 'Reggae 4 Japan' benefit, which will be organised by themselves, their management Irish and Chin, alongside VP Records.

The sound heads back to Japan this week to get the plans into full gear. According to Simon Tse, Mighty Crown see themselves as Japan's reggae ambassadors and are looking to use their love for reggae and their love for Japan, their home, to help them through this time.

"In Japan, we've been doing a lot of donations, but now like we need to make it into a worldwide thing. So doing the show in New York is like the best thing we can do. There are a lot of Japanese people in New York and a lot of reggae lovers in New York as well, we're trying to connect the three - Japan, New York, Jamaica," he said.

Proceeds from the concert will go to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.

According to Tse, artistes such as Freddie McGregor and the Big Ship crew, Tarrus Riley, Etana, and more, will be on the concert and he says he has been getting a lot of support from the local entertainment community. "The response has been really good, everyone wants to be part of it and help make it happen. Every day someone calls so we're even considering moving the date back to accommodate the different set of people," Tse said.

As well as the concert, Tse said Mighty Crown was working with Big Ship and producer Stephen McGregor to do a song for Japan. Any proceeds from the song will also go to Japan. "We're working on it right now, not sure when it's gonna be released but the proceeds will go to Japan."