Khago, was off the island for 2-Week Northeast
tour to promote new single “Road Dawg,” announces signing with new management
team, Concepts Artists Group, to handle all management decisions
and booking for his live appearances. Khago gained worldwide acclaim for his universal
friendship anthem “Nah Sellout Mi Friend Dem,” along with the smash hit "Blood
Ah Boil" and underground hits like “Caan Cool Caan Quench”
and "Tax."
Ricardo Gayle aka Khago is a Jamaican music superstar
with a unique sound that fuses the hard hitting rhythms of dancehall with the traditional
cultural sound of reggae, announces this week his new management team, Concepts
Artist Group (CAG), to handle all his management interests and bookings for his
live appearances. Concepts Artists Group is a full Management company encompassing
Artists Management, Bookings & Appearances, Touring, Merchandising
Management, Label Distribution, and Consulting Services. CAG embraces the trend
of one stop artist management where all of the artist’s interests are
strategically aligned under one roof by aggressively pursuing smart and
innovative music concepts, touring and performance schedules, and merchandising
opportunities that will allow Khago to grow as an international artist and to
better connect his brand with fans across the globe.
The value of reggae artist’s intellectual property has
declined significantly in the age of digital distribution and file sharing. Khago
is determined not to lose control over his intellectual property rights and
music. “Every song I write, artist I collaborate with, producer I work with, venue
I play, promoter I work with, all these decisions including when I tour and
what songs I perform, I want my own management to be in charge of that whole decision
making process to insure that those decisions are all being made with my best
interest in mind both as an entertainer, artist, and musician,” says Khago while
taking pictures and signing autographs for fans during his recent 2-week
Northeast run to promote his latest single “Road Dawg.”
On the road through May 6th, Khago made
stops in New England for two shows with Boston’s Hot97Boston starting in the vacation town of Yarmouth, Cape Cod-Massachusetts
before continuing on to Boston-Massachusetts where he visited the Boston Marathon Bombing site
on the one week observance of the terrorist attack to deliver flowers to the
memorial site on behalf of the people of Jamaica. Khago
then headed to New York City for a show in Brooklyn with New York powerhouse
radio station, Power 105.1 and DJ Norie before trekking to the Midwest for
selected shows in Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis.
“I could not come to the United States and not visit the Boston Marathon
memorial site to show solidarity with the people of Boston and to let them know
that all of Jamaica stood with them during these difficult times” says Khago.
Khago went on to say “Boston is a very special place for me and other Jamaican
artists.” “As one of the biggest reggae markets in America, Boston was one of the
first places to embrace “Nah Sellout Mi Friend Dem” which became my first
crossover hit that allowed the rest of America to know who Khago is, so my love
for Boston is genuine and personal.”
“Boston is the biggest college town in North America
and traditionally has been the biggest supporters of reggae music since the
days of Bob Marley & the Wailers until today. Boston consistently ranks in
the top 5 US markets for reggae music sales. Boston has been a part of breaking
many of dancehall’s biggest hits over the years like Tanto Metro &
Devonte's “Everyone Falls In Love,” Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley's
“Welcome To Jamrock,” Sean Paul's “Gimme The Light,” ,” Beenie Man's “Who Am
I,” and Gyptian “Hold You,” just to name a few. So, it was very important that
someone from the reggae artists’ fraternity like Khago visited Boston to show
back the support that historic city has shown reggae music over the years.”
says music industry executive Cristy Barber.
Concepts Artist Group (CAG) is the brainchild of veteran music
industry concert heavyweight Paul Parara and Ingenius Concepts, a New England firm
specializing in live concert solutions and North America’s largest independent
minority owned Concert Promotion Company as well as Live Nation joint venture
partners. “I have known Khago since 2009 and I have seen few artists as
committed and dedicated to pushing music as Khago” says Parara of CAG. “He
possesses a natural talent and ability to communicate through music in ways few
artists possess.” “We have taken the industry’s best practices and proven management
principles and structured them in ways that will allow Khago to be the well
rounded artist he wants to be, without boundaries, distractions, and limitations.”
“Over the past few years in particular Khago has accomplished so much without any
real structured management working exclusively on his behalf, so the sky is the
limit for what to expect from him moving forward” said Parara.
Khago is a global artist and a global approach will be taken when making
management decisions about his career. We have already enlisted Jerome Hamilton
and Headline Entertainment to represent Khago’s booking and touring interests
throughout the Caribbean on a nonexclusive basis along with similar agreements
with other leading industry agents and representatives in Asia, Africa, Europe,
Australia, South and Latin America. Khago
will have the best management support team of any reggae artists in the industry
today.
Khago will be releasing his first official US mix-tape entitled “Road
Dawg” in July 2013 and his debut album “Push Music” to follow in the fall of
2013. The mix tape and album will continue to move
the pendulum of what a reggae-dancehall artist is supposed to sound like.
Khago, who credits Mr. Vegas and Spragga Benz as two of his greatest influences
in the music industry, will undoubtedly continue to captivate generation
dancehall with the genre’s newest slangs and catch-phrases like “Slap Weh,” “Tun
Up,” and “Clip Off,” while always showcasing versatility as he seamlessly flows
between hard hitting dancehall rhythms and roots one drop beats. Khago’s
manager, Paul Parara, of CAG had this to say about Khago’s new music, “For his
freshman release it’s what industry insiders will call a game changer: his
approach to music making is a return to the authentic reggae feel that stateside
fans and reggae fans the world over have been yearning for from Jamaican based acts,
it will usher in a return to dancehall’s origin as urban protest music, it will
not only speak to those from the inner-cities, but struggling classes
everywhere; his music is made from a perspective of someone from humble
beginnings who speaks about a brighter tomorrow. Khago’s freshman mix tape and
album will provide a soundtrack for today’s youth by letting them know that
someone finally understands them and that they are not alone. Its music sent
from the sky.” Parara also commented on what reggae fans should expect from
Khago in the coming year, “in the future fans should expect Khago to continue
to push music, push reggae music, push dancehall music, push good music, while
becoming a superior brand on the cutting edge of an ever-changing music
industry. He will emerge as Jamaica’s preeminent international music ambassador
for a new generation of reggae fans.”
Watching Khago as he performed recently on Jamaica’s Magnum Kings &
Queens nationally televised TV program, it was clear that despite all the
controversies and management missteps that have plagued his career in recent
years; that nowhere is he more at peace with himself than on a stage in front
of his fans. As he flashes his trademark smile hidden beneath his signature
baseball fitted as he addressed the audience and proudly accepted the mantle as
Jamaica’s poor people success story, it was clear that at that moment, it
marked a new chapter in a music career that will focus on just pushing music.
