AUDIO: Martei Korley, “Concrete Flower”

Works by Jesse Serwer—

Quiet as it’s kept, all of us here at LargeUp do plenty of other things besides bringing you the latest in Caribbean music, styles and culture. Our esteemed creative director and chief photographer Martei Korley happens to be a talented singer who, when he’s not shooting Beres album covers or taking flicks for Rolling Stone, records with some of Jamaica’s top musicians and producers. One of them being guitarist/producer Mitchum (Khan) Chin of Firehouse Crew and Black Chiney, the guy behind some the best one-drop tunes of the past few years, from Beres to Luciano, and John Legend and Estelle’s “No Other Love,” (which he co-wrote and produced with partner Supa Dups).

Mixed by Willie Chin from Black Chiney, “Concrete Flower” has been in the works for some time, beginning life at home studios before moving to Grafton Studios to Anchor Studio and finally being mastered in Lusaka, Zambia by Andrew Diamond. Talk about a musical journey. As Martei explains, “Concrete” is “sort of a 2012 take on raggamuffin from a vocalist’s perspective.” Like the woman he’s singing about, there’s a softer side, though: there’s some Maxi Priest-style smoothness in his croon. And if you’re “old enough,” you’ll note the artwork as a throwback to ’80’s/early ’90s-era 12″ singles (“#1 Smash Hit Single! DJ Copy!”)

Stream “Concrete Flower” below, and buy here on iTunes.