Never one to stick with one sound, Elihu Morris maintains his penchant for experimenting with ‘Your Eyes’, a Nyahbinghi song that was recently released. It is co-produced by the Boston-based singer and Andrew “Andrew Bassie” Campbell, his longtime collaborator.
Describing reggae as world beat music, Morris spoke to the importance of reinvention to an artist’s career. “It’s the kind of music that we are putting out there that inspires freshness, knowing that we are not just doing reggae, but we are doing world reggae, something out of the box,” he said.
To stay outside that box, Morris again works with Campbell, his colleague of over 30 years. He said they share a similar approach to music production and the preservation of quality reggae.
They have worked together on several of his recent songs including ‘Any Little Man’ and ‘On Your Side of Town’, urban ballads that appeal to the working-class man. Songs with that type of message, he reasoned, are in danger of becoming lost to the dancehall generation which makes ‘Your Eyes’ even more relevant.
“Mi enjoy some of dem (dancehall music) but a lotta dem need a lot of work, things to teach people something and feed dem souls spiritually,” said Morris. “I don’t bash no music; I appreciate all music but I think di youths dem need to take a leaf from di foundation.”
Morris was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. The rugged nature of his upbringing in Craig Town — a community near Trench Town — influenced him to pursue a music career that has produced a number of songs, albums and an EP.