After a self-imposed, seven-year break from the music business, Lij Amlak returned in February with the self-produced song, ‘Don’t Hide It’. It is the first production for his Silk Kulcha Yard Records.
Lij Amlak said during his sabbatical, he followed the advice of veteran music producer Danny Browne, to stop recording songs for multiple producers, and to start his own label which would give him artistic freedom.
“Mi feel great, mi feel mi come a far way. It’s not like one time when yuh have to wait on producers like Bobby Digital, Scorpio or Donovan Germain to record yuh. Things different now through technology,” he noted.
In addition to producing ‘Don’t Hide It’, Lil Amlak co-wrote the song with Steve Lindo, best known for writing songs such as ‘Ghetto People Song’ by Everton Blender.
Born in Manchester parish in central Jamaica, Lij Amlak is the younger brother of roots-reggae icon Garnet Silk. He was at their mother’s home on December 9, 1994, when she and his famous sibling died in a fire at her home.
Lij Amlak sustained serious burns to his hands in that incident. He remembers it taking an emotional toll on him. “It get to di level where yuh think yuh going to get mad, it was a crazy thing,” he said.
Pointing to ‘Kingly Character’, ‘Nothing Can Divide Us’ and ‘Zion in A Vision’ among his favorite Garnet Silk songs, Lij Amlak has made a name for himself recording songs for persons close to Silk, including Courtney Cole, Tony Rebel and Yasus Afari.
