Available September 18
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(London, England, August 27, 2012): England is bracing for a musical coup. The Jamaican-born, British-bred Mr Williamz (2008 BBC Artiste of the Year) premiered “We Run England”, on Rinse FM’s The Heatwave radio program and now sets his sights on the whole of the country. “We Run England” is the debut single off the More Spiritual Riddim, a Green Lion production based around Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes’ legendary Ganja Smuggling melody. Available September 18th on Soul of the Lion Records, “We Run England” traces Mr Williamz’ journey from Jamaica to his adopted home of England and then flips the script on social relations as we know them. Powerfully crafted but without losing its playfulness, “We Run England” is both fun and food for thought.
Of special note is the artwork for “We Run England” created by Dan Buller. Buller is a founding partner of the Heavyweight Art Installation known for mixed media live performance installations including music and the visual arts. Founded in Montreal and now spread across North America, Heavyweight is known for pushing the boundaries of artistic expression. Here, Buller’s portrait of the General Field Marshall pushes those royal boundaries just a tad bit further.
“We Run England” is one of five tracks on the More Spiritual Riddim which will drop in October. In addition to two tracks by Mr Williamz, the More Spiritual includes outstanding contributions from fellow UK vocalist YT, Million Stylez from Sweden alongside the leading voice of a new generation of Jamaican conscious reggae, Kabaka Pyramid, as well as acclaimed Jamaican deejay Perfect. Previous versions of Mr Williamz tracks on the riddim were featured on the 2011 Mr Williamz mixtape prepared by Green Lion’s Zeke Stern.
Stern, whose previous credits include Collie Buddz’ crossover hit, “Come Down”, brings a deep knowledge and respect for the roots of reggae music developed the old fashioned way, digging for records wherever they might be found. If reggae is the base, dub, hip hop and dancehall are the branches of the More Spiritual riddim. Mr Williamz burst on the reggae scene in 2008 with his debut single “Babylon in Helicopter” (Necessary Mayhem) which reached #1 in the U.S singles charts and #2 in the German reggae charts. The same year Mr.Williamz was honored by the BBC as the UK artiste of the year 2008. His follow up single “No Cigarette” was included on The Biggest Reggae Anthems 2009 (Greensleeves).
