How A Rejection From Sizzla Gave Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor His First Hit

They say rejection is often redirection, and this was the case for producer Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor 24 years ago.

Long before his Billboard hit-making status, McGregor had all the wide-eyed and bushy-tailed descriptions of an emerging producer, aiming to get then-meteoric star Sizzla Kalonji on his debut production. The rhythm, You and You, reflected the genre fusion that was happening at the turn of the millennium, this time a lovers rock sonic. But according to McGregor, Kalonji wasn’t interested. 

“The first beat that I produced, Sizzla is the first artist that I approached because I’m from August Town and he’s from August Town,” the producer recalled in a recent Instagram video. “When I played the track to him, he never believed in the track or believed in the sound because it was a new sound. It was more of a kind of a RnB-reggae vibe.”

McGregor continued, “He closed the door in my face and when I mean close the door, he was like, you know, just never record on it. Didn’t tell me why, he just never did anything with it.”

Sizzla

Not getting his first choice, McGregor pivoted to proximity, approaching the artist who was often around Kalonji at the time. 

“I then approached Turbulence because Turbulence is an artist who was an opening act for Sizzla…” he shared. “So I said, ‘Hey Turbulence, I would like to record a song with you. I have this beat and I want us to do a song’, and myself and Turbulence, we went to the recording studio and we record a song.”

That track was Name and Number, the tune that would give Turbulence much visibility after being on the scene with late producer Philip ‘Fatis’ Burrell since the late 1990s. 

“When the song dropped, it becomes a massive hit not just in Jamaica, but around the world, and that record made Turbulence into a superstar – a reggae superstar,” McGregor said. “That record, even though I produced it, 99 percent of the reggae industry and people internationally and around the world, they have no clue that that record was produced by Kemar McGregor. I think most people thought that record was produced by Fatis Burrell, but that was my first record I produced.”

He ribboned the tale with a lesson on persevering despite the rejections in life. 

“Not because a door close on you, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the music industry… Not every door close, it means that’s the end of your dream and you should actually fight and you should continue do what you do because sometimes not everyone believe in your dream.”

McGregor would go on to produce more reggae classics, including Richie Spice’s The Plane Land, Etana’s I Am Not Afraid, Gyptian’s Serious Times, and Morgan Heritage’s Nothing to Smile About. 

These days, he’s cooking up the Insects rhythm, a remake of Dave Kelly’s classic Bug rhythm, featuring artists including Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Tifa and N’Hance.