More history from History Man
100 songs later releases new album ‘Time With Patience’
Published:Thursday | May 5, 2022 | 12:10 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
In 1996, a young singer named Andrew Black jumped on the Tastee stage, hoping to make an indelible impression with his performance. He sure did. By the end of his stint, not only was he given the usual signs of approbation, Andrew Black was also given a new name. He was rechristened ‘History Man’ – a moniker he has kept throughout the years as he continued to ‘edutain’ through his songs which creatively teach Jamaican history.
Fast-forward to 2022 and History Man, who now has the word ‘informative’ in front of his name, has released his long-awaited sophomore album, titled Time With Patience. His first album, Chronology Vol 1, was released in 2001, some 21 years ago, but History Man was quick to point out that during those two decades he has released more than 100 singles.
“The constant travelling and moving up and down made it challenging to spend the time needed to produce a full-length album. But, COVID, as they say, has its bad and its good. We had time, and so we used it,” History Man told The Gleaner.
Explaining the name of the album, he shared, “Time is the essence and patience is a virtue, and this album has been a long time coming. It required a lot of both.”
CONTROL THE NARRATIVE
He noted that the 16-track album covers many topics, “but is consistently cultural and informative,” a signature style of the man who has songs such as Bob Marley History, Miss Lou History and Nine Prime Ministers of Jamaica History, and who has committed to keep on telling the history of Jamaica through his songs. “When Jamaicans living in England, for example, order six copies to give to family members, this is proof that what I am doing has made a difference. In my travels, I have come across so much error about our history, that it is my mission to make sure that our stories are told by us, and that we control the narrative,” History Man said.
Time with Pati ence, which is self- produced, was recorded at various recording studios, such as Tuff Gong, Caveman, Anchor, Jungle Lava Studio, as well as 5 Rivers Studio in Canada. Among the songs are Real Rasta, Love Is the Answer, Ancient City, Psalms 35 and My Heart Desire.
“The 16 tracks show the versatility of History Man. What I have is a genre within a genre,” he said. “If you listen to Muta and Yasus, they have similar projection and speed, but I am different. Sometimes I sound like a singjay; when I do ‘speed rapid’, I am more like a deejay; and at other times I am a dub poet,” he said, as he reeled off three different songs to show his various styles.
The album, which was released on April 23, also has collabs with Jah Mason and Natural Substance. At the official launch, at which The University of the West Indies lecturer Dr Michael Barnett was the guest speaker, several of History Man’s colleagues in the industry showed up to support him. Among the guest artistes who performed on the night were Johnny Clarke, The Heptones, Mikey General, Carl Dawkins, Stampa-Lue, Papa Finnigan, Steve Tulloch, Natural Substance, EQ, Boom Dawn, Michael Shemaiah, Truthfull Ras, Brando and Jennifer Barrett. All artistes were backed by the High Cymbal Band.