Buddz: Song Made Success ‘Come Around’

When Bermuda dancehall sensation Collie Buddz recorded his signature track  ”Come Around,” he wasn’t convinced of the song’s potential.

“I was kind of iffy about it,” the 29-year-old Bermudian reggae artist told an Austin, Texas newspaper yesterday [Mar. 9], “but my street team took it out and gave it to all the DJs.”

The next thing he knew, established rappers were putting out remixes of “Come Around”.

Championed by the Massive B Soundsystem — dancehall DJs at New York hip-hop station Hot 97 — the song was a low-key US hit for months, eventually becoming a staple of radio playlists throughout 2006.

“I think the thing that surprised me first was when Busta Rhymes jumped on it,” the Bermudian entertainer told the Texas newspaper. “He must have heard it on Hot 97 in New York. He took the instrumental and he did it himself. I heard it on the radio for the first time in New York and I was like, ‘What the hell’?

“At the time I’m nobody, and Busta Rhymes is huge, and I’m like, ‘What is going on’?”

By the time Columbia Records released his self-titled first album in 2007, the momentum provided by “Come Around” helped his debut CD enter the Billboard reggae chart in the top spot.

Now, with a new EP “Playback,” available as a free download on his website, Collie Buddz is preparing for a spring tour which kicks off with a forthcoming appearance at Austin’s South By Southwest [SXSW] music and film festival in Austin.

“A lot of my fans have bought tickets to the shows and I haven’t come out with a new album since the 2007 LP,” he said. “I haven’t come out with anything officially. We’ve dropped a few singles here and there, but nothing tangible. So we decided it was the right thing to do for all the fans.

“We’ve been around the world a couple times, all sorts of tours, but the music wasn’t as up-to-date as we’d like it to be. So we said that after all these people gave us so much support, let’s just give it away for free. And it worked out great. I think we’re at about a quarter-million downloads. The fans enjoy that, too; there’s no need to illegally download it.”

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