Released in 1980, Judy Mowatt’s ‘Black Woman’ is one of reggae’s most emotive songs. When it was suggested, she cover it, singer KAEDI PHILO had no hesitation, given the track’s timeless content.
Her version, released in February, is produced by Richard “Bello” Bell for Startrail Records.
“It was Uncle Bello’s idea to cover the song. I was familiar with the original, but he urged me to relisten to it some more. The song contains a powerful message about the perils of black women, something that still applies to our experience today though the song came out decades ago,” said KAEDI PHILO.
A recording artist since 2016, KAEDI PHILO was born in New York to Jamaican parents. She said putting her stamp on ‘Black Woman’ was critical.
“Ultimately, I wanted to make sure that we paid our respect to the original. I sang and stacked the background vocals with Sherida Sharpe to give the arrangement a little more body, but those arrangements don’t stray from the original,” she explained.
While a horn section led by saxophonist Dean Fraser does justice to the original arrangement, the Startrail Records production is enhanced by bluesy guitar riffs from Lamont “Monty” Savory.
‘Black Woman’ is among the latest releases from Startrail Records, one of the leading labels in dancehall-reggae during the 1990s. Bell produced many hit songs then, including ‘Lift up Your Head’ by Everton Blender, ‘Fire pon Rome’ by Anthony B and ‘Moma Africa’ by Garnet Silk.
‘Behold I Come’ by Kumar Fyah, another song on the ‘Black Woman’ beat, was also released in February.
