‘Collie Buddz come from where?!?!’  It’s not often that a non-Jamaican artist is credited with burning up the airwaves with hot reggae tracks.    But somehow, Collie Buddz has managed to do just that.  When the radio DJs announced that the artist behind Come Around was Mr. Colin Harper, from Bermuda, many thought ‘ehh, okay…it’s unusual, but not impossible…’  

When the video came out however, and we saw that Collie Buddz was white, many were thrown, and thought ‘what the…’ 

And so it began -- instant comparisons to artists like Eminem and other white artists performing music more generally associated with Black culture.  So far, Collie has managed to confidently fend off criticisms that his music isn’t authentic simply because of his race and country of origin.  His self-titled album has sold more than 10,000 copies in its first week and has scored double digit positions on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

CiRCUIT magazine managed to secure an interview with Collie while in Barbados for the Oktober Fest show, held October 13, 2007 at Jumbie’s in the Gap.  And boy did we ask him some serious questions...

Mr. Harper, as he has introduced himself, stands behind the counter of the bar in his hotel room and is the portrait of relaxation. He pours himself a drink and as he leans on the counter and makes me so comfortable that I forget that this is a #1 reggae artist and instead before me is an average guy, and we’re just chillin on a Saturday night...

How did you get into reggae?
I got into music from an early age in Bermuda. My brother, who is a little older than me, started a sound system when he was 12.  When I came home from school I listened to the dub plates – Bermuda is a small place and there’s not much to do, so music was a big part of my life.

So would you say your brother was one of your biggest influences?
Definitely! He was a huge influence in my life. He checked music first – I looked up to him and wanted to be just like him. I even started singing his lyrics.

How do you feel about the mainstream status of reggae?
Reggae is forever growing, we just came back from Japan and reggae there is huge, I love to see it ’cause reggae was considered an underground music and now it’s this big Caribbean thing. Some big fans of reggae music are fans because they understand the patois. I love how reggae music is forever coming up in the world.

How do you feel about the Eminem comparisons? A white bwoy in reggae music? Not the traditional line of thinking.
First of all I take it as a compliment, alotta people say I sound like Sean Paul, I-Wayne and there are all sorts of comparisons to be rated among those artists. I just try not to watch it too much, I just try to do my thing - I just go around promoting the album.

Right now, which artists’ style do you think is really hot?
Busy Signal, Assassin, Movado, and Munga – anybody out there actually – I’m still a big fan of the music. We did Labour Day Weekend in New York on HOTT 7 truck with Movado, Munga, Mr. Vegas, Elephant Man, Adonia, Assassin, and Mr. Easy. I’m like a little kid when I see them, ya know, asking for their autograph’s n ting.

What other artists’ music are you listening to right now?
Hmm. Honestly, I listen to my brother’s dub plates more than anything else, ’cause I’m trying to help him buss his sound. I engineer all his dub plates as well. I engineered 95% of the whole album and recorded it myself.

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Are you interested in doing any offbeat collaborations?
(I’ve done collaborations with) Krayzie Bone, Paul Wall & Yung Berg. Because I’m signed to Sony, the label wanted us to do those type of collaborations – I wanted to do it the same way, ’cause the label is promoting me in the states, and outside of that it’s just my DJ Peewee, Road Manager Kevin, and my manager Dino that is basically promoting us. The label is focussing on the USA. When Paul Wall said he wanted to jump on it I was like yeaaaa....and before the album was even done, I was on tour, because Come Around blew up and it was sort of a rush thing, and all the artist that were happy to jump on the thing just did...and ya know we did it properly.

What do you think about maybe doing some hard rock?
Well I’d love to do something like that, ’cause you know I’m an artist, I’d love to branch out and see what other styles of music I could do. You’re not gonna hear me do no country music though, but yeah I’d do rock, hip-hop, soca and R&B.

How hard is it to come back to Bermuda after you’ve been performing worldwide?
Nah it’s not easy to chill out at home like before, especially in Bermuda, we are so proud, and everyone wants to come up and talk with me, so going out is pretty much done unless I’m performing. It’s definitely harder than back in the day. Before I was signed to Sony I would be in the club and people would be like ‘yo what up Collie’ and that would be it. Now I can’t even go through the door without getting bum rushed. I love it though, ’cause if that wasn’t happening I would be worried. (laughs). You guys must know what it’s like here ya know, with Rihanna.

Do you find that along with the increase in fans is an increase in critics?
Definitely. Your worst haters and gonna be from where you stay. In Bermuda, even though I’m the first person to come from Bermuda out there on the market, you still have haters. There is always someone saying that ‘oh he didn’t big up Bermuda like this one time in an interview’. They are never happy. Rihanna, she is on a different level. She’s huge, and she is an international superstar. I can tell that ya know when you get to that level, and I’m sure it’s not her fault; you get the label basically controlling everything you do. That must be really hard for her, I know she loves Barbados and she bigs it up every time. We have a lotta freedom on our label, we tell them what we want to do. But Rihanna, she’s more on de pop ting, cause de label dem know how fi buss pop.