Interview : Ziggi Recado Never Wanted To Be An Artist Growing Up
Interview : Ziggi Recado Never Wanted To Be An Artist Growing Up
Ziggi Recado never wanted to be an artist growing up. The St Eustatian singer-deejay freely admits he initially only busted a few rhymes to fit in with his friends who did. But the adolescent natural talent in those couplets kick-started the reggae scene in his adopted home of the Netherlands - with the grainy-toned melodious chanter at its head. "
With each new recording since, Ziggi’s seriousness about his craft has grown - and it shows. This interview took place just as he’d returned to Holland after cutting his fourth album Therapeutic with highly touted US/VI production triumvirate Zion I Kings. It's the first time he has ever voiced a full project while in his birthplace of Statia - and what he saw there inspired many of his more rebellious lyrics.
Ziggi has a wide and winning smile. But when talking he fixes you with a truth seeker’s stare. Although he hasn't always been pleased with past albums - even the ones critics and fans have enjoyed - he sounds sincere when he says Therapeutic is his best yet. Once the flagship of Dutch reggae, Ziggi is an artist of the world.
Ziggi has a wide and winning smile. But when talking he fixes you with a truth seeker’s stare. Although he hasn't always been pleased with past albums - even the ones critics and fans have enjoyed - he sounds sincere when he says Therapeutic is his best yet. Once the flagship of Dutch reggae, Ziggi is an artist of the world.
Q: St Eustatius is a very small island – does it even make sense to ask where in the island you are from?
Ziggi Recado :Statian culture is probably very confusing. It’s been through a lot through the years. It’s a small island. It’s very underdeveloped in terms of schooling. Most youths leave no later than 16 to do some schooling – and a great deal of them never go back. There’s not much for them to go back to either even if they do. The island is controlled by the Dutch and compared to when I was growing up there it seems like it’s even more under control than before. It’s just switched to a different currency - from Antillean Guilders to Dollars - and that made it a lot crazier too. So it’s a very different vibe this time around for me on that island.
Q: Did you grow up speaking English and Dutch?
Ziggi Recado : More English because I ended up in Statia but my mum is Dutch so for the first couple of years I was back and forth a couple of times so there was some Dutch in there.
Q: Your grandmother was the organ player in the 7th Day Adventist church. You came from a Christian home?
Ziggi Recado : Oh yeah man. Hardcore. Being grandparents they were from an older generation and on a small island like that it was dead serious about church man. I had to be in church at least four times a week. I really believed that Jesus was coming any day. (laughs)
Q: Is that where the music first came in to your life? ?
Ziggi Recado : Back then I never had any idea that I wanted to do something with music. I guess some experience came in then. I was in the church choir learning about singing harmonies but it was only later on when I actually started to do music that it worked to my advantage.
Q: Like many youth growing up you were into sports?
Very much. Basketball was my thing and I was planning to go to the NBA but I destroyed my ankle. I tore up all my ligaments in a game when I was 16. That was really dumb because every island I lived on I was in the national team. It took me out of rotation for at least eight months and after that it was never the same.
Q: Tell me about Statian music culture.
Ziggi Recado : Very Caribbean. A lot of soca and calypso. You’d get some other influences from the Caribbean too like reggae and some Spanish music. But the hardcore thing is calypso and soca.
Q: What kind of reggae was reaching you in your childhood years?
Ziggi Recado : A lot stuff man. I think Bob is probably the thing that most people hear because he gets played so much. But after that it was Buju, Til Shiloh – that was like turning up down there – Shabba was huge on the island back in the day. Anybody who was really doing things - because it was the Caribbean – just not on the soca level.
Q: Did non-Jamaican reggae like Midnite reach over there?
Ziggi Recado : Oh no. It still hasn’t reached man.
Q: Tell me about your spiritual journey – did it start in Statia?
Ziggi Recado : I think it definitely started in childhood because of my upbringing and my grandparents. I was so entwined in church that I even gave sermons when I was 12. I was hardcore Adventist. Then for schooling I had to leave the island and ended up in Aruba where my mum was in the process of doing bible study and becoming a Jehovah’s Witness. So she was trying to reprogram my thinking. I think by that time I became aware of the spiritual aspect of life.
Q: In what other ways was Aruba different for you?
Ziggi Recado : Aruba was very different man. It’s way down almost by South America. They speak English but the main language is Papiamento which is a mix between Spanish, Portuguese and some other stuff. When I went there I couldn’t speak a word of it so that was some different shit man. Over there is really Latin – very much South American influence. That was a very different swing from Statia which is a real black island.
Q: How did Rasta come to you?
Ziggi Recado : It was always there from the beginning. As a Caribbean island Statia had some Rastaman who I always used to be around. I think musically I was always very much into reggae and loved it more than calypso and soca. I think by the time I got to Europe that grew even stronger. As I started to focus more on the reggae it just became the most natural thing to tell you the truth.
Q: ?You moved to Netherlands to study – what did you study?
Ziggi Recado : At first I was doing economics. And by the time I stopped school and did music full time I was busy with computer programming.
Q: You kept your connection with your Statian friends when you came over. It wasn’t like you were alone. You had a crew around you.
Ziggi Recado : Very much. I had a few guys that had already moved to Holland long before me and I had a few that came while I was there. Eventually we had a little community of the whole crew from back in the island so of course, as these are the friends you grew with you most naturally stay in that line.
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Sources : Ziggi Recado Photo | Q+A With Ziggi Recado Interview
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