We remember 2Pac who would have been 47 years old tomorrow.
This year, 2018, marks the 20th anniversary of the release of 2Pac’s ground breaking and historically important song ”Changes”. With the timeless hit song ́s catchy piano melody by Bruce Hornsby ”The Way it is”
”Changes”, which was released two years after 2Pac’s murder, tells of the war on drugs, police brutality, racism and poverty. It was this track which made 2Pac reach out to a bigger audience. ”Changes” was high on the charts all over the world. To date it has over 110 million streams on Spotify and over 100 million views on Youtube.
Now, 20 years later, André Roots Records releases the riddim compilation Change Riddim featuring Swedish, Jamaican
and American artists-a reggae homage to 2Pac’s epic song.
Change Riddim features
Agent Sasco – Domino table Queen Ifrica – A nuh we dis Pressure – Who feels it knows Sizzla – Lily in the vallet
Ikaya – Keep your eyes open Anthony B – Living in the ghetto Luciano – Unite
Turbulence – Power of god
Niyorah – Prophet when you hustle Jah Vinci – We need love
Million Stylez – Signs of the time Lutan Fyah – Gun so prevalent Instrumental featuring Dean Fraser
All twelve artists on Change Riddim got the same instrumental and each put their own touch on it with their unique style and lyrics. Several of the artists capture the same themes as in Tupac Shakurs original version.
One bonus track the thirteenth (13th) features the prolific maestro Saxofonist Dean Fraser. Session musician and MD for all the greats over decades like Bob Marley, Sly & Robbie, Dennis Brown
The idea behind the Change Riddim Compilation was born when André was on tour. He often sat and worked on different projects in the tour bus and the idea to do something with ”Changes” was always in the back of his mind. It was the first song he’d learned to play on the piano when he was 10 years old and it’s powerful message and melody had stuck with him. Noting how seamlessly the well-known piano melody infused with reggae music elements, André was excited at the possibilities.
The work with the project really kicked off when first version of the instrumental made it’s way to Jamaica with André’s colleague Denzil Williams (Soundbank Music) Lots of artists there had the same strong bond with the 2Pac classic and in just a short time several artists had written their own lyrics for the riddim. This gave André and Denzil drive to continue and the inspiration to release a riddim compilation with the reggae instrumental.
To see the Change Riddim compilation project through to reality, André reached out to, and joined forces with Denmark- based Adil “Jahdil” Nadri—an artist and label manager with an exceptional track record and great expertise in the music industry.
Initialy the project was entitled ”The way it is”yet in process of the making of the compilation ”Change Riddim” name and title made more sense to the project. From that point André could sense significant change, dispite great challenges that such ambitious project, André see ́s millestones acomplishement and reward of his and his teams effort
The Change Riddim Compilation is now available on all digital platforms such as Spotify, Itunes, Tidal and Google Play.