NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Sunset Records) - Sunset Records proudly announces today that its reggae label, Tropical Records will release its first full length CD since 2005 from none other than the Jah Kings. Their African Diaspora CD will be released this May. The album will be available at all traditional music retail outlets, at all stores that sell downloads, streams and ringtones and exclusively at Amazon and Target locations all over the world. The announcement was made at Sunset's New York office while the company had a simultaneous simulcast of the signing featuring a surprise appearance by
Alexander Kofi aka The Jah
Kings lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter, via satellite from his home in Holland.
"Don (Lichterman) signed the deal from New York City, I signed it from Florida, Lucille (Band manager) signed it from Indiana and we had the band sign the deal from Holland," said Rejean Germain, the head of Sunset Music Publishing and Head of A&R at The Sunset Label Group. Alexander, the band leader says the staff people at the record label have "an incredible amount of creativity, passion and love for colorful music." Kofi goes on to say that "Rejean Germain and Don Lichterman are two people that are always finding new ways to reach people" which is all he ever wanted with his music.
"It is great to release this album by the Jah Kings as our first project under the Tropical Record label," said Don Lichterman, the founder and head of Tropical / Sunset Records. "This shows how the Tropical distribution system can attract world renowned legendary recording artists." Lichterman goes on to say that it is "clear to see that we have one of the most incredible channels to reach new and existing fans."
"I am glad to be able to release this amazing new album to the world," said Germain. "I believe that reggae fans like myself, will quickly hear how this album is a classic." The Jah Kings will deliver a new personal dimension that shows their continued natural progression as world music artists. Germain makes no bones about African Diaspora being a globally accessible and profound reggae CD.
The Jah Kings are not new to the music industry with their Love CD being nominated Best Reggae CD, and Alexander being nominated Best Reggae Performer, at the 2002 Chicago Music Awards. In 2004, their Now CD was nominated as the Best World Music CD at the Jammie Awards.
With the recent creation of Tropical Records and the newest offering from McCartney, Sunset Records has taken advantage of its global success with new recorded music. In 2007, Sunset Recording artists had the number one song on Greece radio edging out Robbie Williams as well having the number one song on the Radio Italia Network.
Sunset started Tropical on a more defined quest for music that demonstrates quality, authenticity, relevance and passion to reggae styled music. Tropical provides the most viable platform for reaching music fans and introducing them to both emerging and established world music artists. This label structure will result in colorful and deep music selections for consumers along with a distribution tool for artists to reach a region that loves this style of music. "I was being driven from MOBAY (Montego Bay, Jamaica) to Negril," says Lichterman about starting Tropical Records last year. "I was looking out the car window at the houses up in the hills" Lichterman continues to say and "I turned to the two other people I started the label with last year (Jerome Chambers and Clovis McFallen) and said there must be a ton of creative people that have music without the ability to have people listen on a global level."
That conversation brought Sunset Records and Clovis McFallen in collaboration and before Lichterman and Chambers left the island that week, they had new projects ready to be released at Sunset Live. Lichterman then reassigned Cryout and Stondie, along with catalog Special markets Titles and Home Video Titles. Sunset Strategic Marketing (SSM) has distributed top selling world music styled special markets titles like the Heartland reggae DVD and currently distributes Gunner Palace, the Palm Pictures documentary movie on DVD.
