"The leading Hungarian multi-member dancehall band meets the best of local hiphop. Dancing and rapping in a great ambient!Irie Maffia was founded by Dermot and Jumurjack Ruby in 2004 after having left Love Alliance Soundsystem, the first dancehall sound in Hungary. They had been playing in this sound since 2002. They have been producing beats for 7 years in different styles and when they found their own sound they focused on playing live reggae music.
The Grenadian Mc Kemon who was also a member in Love Alliance joined the new formation adding his original Caribbean voice. Kemon got a new lyrical partner and friend Mc Columbo at the end of 2004 so the talented young boy with his Burro Banton style deejaying joined the band as well. The third mc is Busa, a veteran Hungarian rapper who is in the business for 12 years with his amazing rhymes and beatboxing.
The musicians in the band are: Jumurjack (keyboards), Dermot (trombone). Miklós Havas, a professional session player in different popular Hungarian bands plays the bass lines. Lorinc Barabás, the trumpet player studies jazz music at the Hungarian Music Academy. Miklós Kürthy plays the guitar and he's getting ready to the entrance exam for the same university to study classical music. Dj Future scratches, who is one of the most talented turntablist in Hungary and has several other formations as well. Irie Maffia plays the 80's Jamaican rub a dub and rockers style flavored with modern hip-hop and dancehall taste.
They completed their first tour in Poland in November 2005. Within this succsessful tour they had really cool gigs, let alone playing for 4000 people at the One Love reggae fest.. At the end of 2005 they had their first release on the new Seed riddim, the Rodeo. Germaica Records owner Pioneer made this Riddim Drive with 20 different European artists, and the Hungarian version was made by the Irie Maffia rappers. They released their first own record for the 1st anniversary of the band on the 15th of march 2006. It's an EP with 2 Irie tracks, the Angyal Vadász (this is on the rodeo riddim) and a remix for a Hungarian drum and bass band called Brains. They made the Ep launch party with a new member: Tamás Dési who plays drums.
The special guest was David Rodigan. Right after this Antal Oláh joined to the band as a percussion player. The band is in the studio currently recording their debut album, and have tons of shows lined up throughout Hungary. This summer they performed at all of the big Hungarian Festivals, as well in Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Besides the live band, Irie Maffia has a soundsystem formation as well, which is one of the most popular sound in Hungary, playing everywhere around the country and having weekly sessions."
Source:
A38 Ship
12.09.2007