Hammond continued to release singles regularly one of them, “You and I, ” won Hammond a Male Vocalist of the Year award from the Canadian Reggae Music Association in 1998.īy this time Hammond was a fixture of the Toronto club scene as a live performer. Grammy award) for reggae single of the year, resulting in national television exposure.Ī follow-up single, “Watching Your Program, ” which unlike “Just the Other Night ” would not be included on Hammond ’s debut CD, did even better, winning radio airplay in Canada and in Jamaica, and broadening Hammond ’s reach to other reggae strongholds such as New York and London. It garnered Hammond a Juno award nomination (the Juno is the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. It begins with the question, “Have you ever been in a situation where you had to cheat on your woman? ” The song, which Hammond explained was based on the experiences of friends, gained club play in Toronto and climbed into the top ten on local reggae charts. “Just the Other Night ” had an infidelity theme familiar in southern soul but fairly new to the spiritually-elevated reggae. Religion: Rastafarian.Ĭareer: Performed in Canadian reggae clubs, early 1990s released debut single, “Just the Other Night ” on FiWi label, 1996 song was included on annual label compilation released other singles in Canada, late 1990s gained recognition in Jamaica, United Kingdom, and United States released debut CD, Lenn Hammond, 2001.Īwards: Juno award nomination, Reggae Single of the Year, for “Just the Other Night, ” 1996 Juno award, Best Reggae Album, for Lenn Hammond, 2001 two Male Vocalist of the Year awards, Canadian Reggae Association.Īddresses: Management - Chris Smith Management, 21 Camden St., 5th floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1V2. Education: Completed degree in hotel and restaurant operations, Canada, 1990s. At a Glance …īorn Constantine Hammond in Port Maria, St. The first fruit of all this activity was the single “Just the Other Night, ” released in 1996 on the FiWi label (owned by artist manager Chris Smith, best known for helming the career of pop chanteuse Nelly Furtado) it was also included in that company ’s compilation CD for the year, an important path to popularity in the reggae field. In the mid-1990s he had honed his own production skills and worked with top Jamaican DJs and production teams. Top reggae producers began to take note of Hammond both as a performer and as a songwriter -his compositions have appeared on releases by reggae superstar Marcia Griffiths and other major artists. By 1993 he cut a single it failed to make an impact on record charts, but had the desired effect of spreading his name in the reggae industry.
Hammond completed a degree in hotel and restaurant operations while familiarizing himself with reggae ’s increasingly important electronic side, working with his father and uncle on his songwriting skills, and attempting to further his solo career.
Fiwi music jamaica professional#
The influence of these expert crowd pleasers showed in the young Hammond ’s stage performances, but after he finished high school he headed north in 1989 to Toronto in search of professional training. soul and classic R&B that was often heard on Jamaican airwaves, including Otis Redding, Teddy Pendergrass, and Al Green. But he also listened to the old-school U.S. Musical influences came from his father, uncle, and Jamaican superstar Dennis Brown, one of the early exponents of a smooth, romantic style in reggae. By the time he was in junior high school, Lenn Hammond was interested in music. The Canadian reggae performer Yogie is his cousin. Mary, Jamaica, Constantine “Lenn ” Hammond was the son of a cabaret singer, Winston “Boyo ” Hammond and the nephew of a major reggae vocal star, Beres Hammond. Lenn Hammond comes from a lineage of music makers, and his last name inspires instant recognition among reggae fans. One Canadian up-and-comer who may be able to do just that in the coming years is Lenn Hammond -especially since Hammond stands apart from other artists in his cultivation of the smooth, romantic reggae sound known as lovers ’ rock, not the rap and dancehall inflected sound of U.S. With an enormous population of Jamaican immigrants in the Toronto metropolitan area and elsewhere gaining access to a vigorous club and production scene, it seemed natural that Canadian reggae artists would contend with their U.S. reggae fans have kept an ear cocked northward. Frigid Canada may seem an unlikely source of new developments in Caribbean music, but ever since the rapid wordplay of Snow ’s “Informer ” streaked to the top of U.S.
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