They have been the World Champion in1999. Many say they deserved it too in 2001.
They just finished a tour of Germany with Pow Pow. Nadine talked with Sammy T, the shogun of the japanese sound men, about Dancehall in Japan, dubplate rates and of course about the result of the last World Clash.

Germaican Observer: When was you first contact with Reggae Music?
Mighty Crown: I guess that was with Bob Marley, because when I was in High School I listened to Bob Marley and the message just strucked me… I understood what he was saying and from there I just started listening to Reggae and that was like 12, 13 years ago.

G.O: So when did you decide o.k we are gonna have a Sound System and play Dancehall music?
M.C.: We really started getting into it like 1993 to1994, we started playing out in Japan and I was like living in New York dem time deh so I was like back and forth… I was in New York like 2 years and I start playing in New York like likkle Basement dance dem. From deh so until all the way till now, I am still playing Dancehall.

G.O: So what was it like starting when you first started playing Dancehall in Japan, because I am sure it wasn't something that was very popular back then?
M.C.: Yeah, it was like a whole new market, creating a new scene in Japan. Reggae was popular before like back in 1992, 1993 like we had like Japan Splash and we always had like couple big Jamaican artistes coming in… but 2 to 3 years after that Reggae started to decline, it was like out of fashion and all the people who didn't take it as a fashion still keep it up and we started to bring it back… then in 1999 we win World Clash and then the whole world know about us and the whole a Japan know about us and from there is like Reggae getting bigger and bigger again in Japan. So we are really like part of the big market in Japan.

G.O: When you guys go to Jamaica and want to record like a Bounty or Beenie and they see these Japanese guys, do you think you are taken seriously or do they charge you more because you are foreigners?
M.C.: Basically the mentality weh dem have is like yo when yuh see a Japanese 'tax dem,' so that's the mentality and yuh can't go round that and yeah we do get charged more because you are a foreigner… but when you want a certain artiste what yuh a go do?

Sammy T

G.O: In your own words what is the difference between a Sound System and an artiste because both of you give music to enjoy?
M.C.: Well, artiste is the one who perform using mic, but we is the one who play the artistes tunes so that is the basic difference.

G.O: Who is your favourite artist to record, everytime you go to Jamaica which artiste do you have to get a tune from?
M.C.: Well it is really difficult to pick out the one yuh nuh, because I really respect and rate most of them… like whoever has a hot song right now in the scene I just go for him, so that's why I don't really wanna pick out. But if I had to pick it would be people like Capleton, Sizzla, Buju Banton, Spragga Benz, new youth like Assasin is coming up.

G.O: Going to Jamaica and seeing the Dancehall scene in Jamaica, what is the difference between the Dancehall scene in Jamaica and that in Japan?
M.C.: The total difference is the language and then it's like a total different world between Jamaica and Japan… different culture, different situation, the girls is different and the whole vibes is different. You can never experience, I mean things that I experience in Japan I could never experience in Jamaica and in Jamaica you could never experience things that you could experience in Japan.

G.O: You have your fanbase in Japan and I am sure that you are very popular there, but is it important to be accepted by the Dancehall fans in Jamaica, as you are really playing their music?
M.C.: Well it is, but I don't know how much you know about us and when we play in Jamaica… when we play there we get nuff forwards. I would say that we are accepted there.

G.O: How do you see other Sound Systems like Killamanjaro and Tony Matterhorn?
M.C.: Well I respect Matterhorn, but him is not a Sound System, him is an MC, but him kool still and we are all kool. I also respect most of the other sounds out there like Jaro.

G.O: It is said that you guys were in Jamaican terms 'robbed' the first place at the World Clash last year, do you also think so?
M.C.: There are a lot of people on the street who are saying this and that, like we should have gotten the trophy, it gone still… but I think that we won.

G.O: Do you guys sometimes feel like stars because you're here and you are giving interviews and taking pictures, how do you feel about that?
M.C.: Well I don't feel like I'm a star, but I'm a sound and I try to please people with music and the music that I choose is Reggae.

Germaican Observer: Thank you for the interview and all the best for your sound!
Mighty Crown: Yeah, thank you!

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