At XTATX Studio we recently worked on a release campaign for a French reggae artist we support regularly with online and social media activity. David Cairol is an exciting musician with ambitions to share his musical journey with the world. His recent album VERS(E) is a collaborative piece of work with artists from Jamaica – the true heartland of reggae – from the greatest legends, the Kings and Queens of the genre (Brinsley Forde, Judy Mowatt, Bongo Herman…) to up and coming, new artists on the local scene (Rik Jam, Var…). 

David’s most recent release is a single co-written and composed by students from two middle schools / “collèges” in both France and Jamaica. Playing with the upcoming Olympic Games as a theme, “Keepers of the flame” speaks to a desire for unity among people, team work, equality and respect. 

Kingston-based students sing in French whilst those based near David’s home town in France sing in English. The song is an exercise carried out with teachers at both schools. In Jamaica it took place during their French lessons, whereas in France it was an English language project.
What we loved most about this project is that it infiltrated the school curriculum with the collaboration of the teachers, allowing students to embrace their creativity, learn new skills and ways of thinking. They took ownership of a common project, all whilst developing their creative portfolio. “Franchement”, there are some great voices among those students!

And their lyrics aren’t all warm and rosy. Touching on current affairs, the song doesn’t hesitate to confront some of the world’s alarming issues:

“End of the game let’s have a draw [Fin de la partie, faisons match nul] 

We have to change the rules and the law [Nous devons changer les règles et la loi]

Trop de femmes encaissent sans en voir l’argent [Too many women roll with the punches without getting anything]

A elles la médaille d’or, il n’y aura plus de perdants  [The gold medal is theirs, and there will be no more losers ]

Let’s tackle inequality [Allons tacler l’inégalité] 

Like the Statue of Liberty [Comme la Statue de la Liberté]

La découpe du monde est Qatar-strophique [The World cut is Qatar-strophic]

Prenons place à la tribune climatique [Let’s take a seat on the climate platform]

Y aura pas de prolongations, mais qu’une tactique [There’ll be no extra time, just one tactic]”

This bilingual collaboration bridges gaps between people and lived experiences. It gives voice to the worries and concerns of the younger generation and the final product is supported by world class music producers. The students from St George’s college in Kingston were brought to Tuff Gong International Studio for the recording, the one and only music label and recording studio founded by Bob Marley. It’s one of the largest recording studios in the Caribbean and one which artists travel far and wide to for their state of the art equipment and the prestige of the venue.

It was a pleasure to work on the communications campaign for the release of the single. With little time to prepare, we got our creative strategic brains into action and planned the campaign so as to give the release the best chance of reaching audiences far and wide. 

“We’re a unity of people, we are a team [Nous sommes une union, nous sommes une équipe]

We can’t give up until we score our dreams [Nous ne pouvons abandonner sans atteindre nos rêves]

We have to pass the ball to reach our goal [Nous devons savoir passer la balle pour atteindre notre but]”

Working on projects that mean something is all we ask for. It makes our job so much easier to plan for something that we can truly get behind, something we believe in and can see the value of. The team at XTATX is here to support those who are seeking to make an impact, whatever the way. We specialise in impact-driven initiatives. We have creative mindsets and work well with creatives. We have strategic and action-oriented brains and we understand social entrepreneurs.

“We’ll be equal [Nous serons égaux]

Once we reach our goal [Quand nous aurons atteint notre but]

Never lose control [Ne perd pas pied]

Don’t fall in the hole [Ne finis pas au trou]

Nous saurons jongler [We can juggle]

Avec le monde entier [With the whole world]

Nous devons arbitrer [We must referee]

La terre doit récupérer [The earth must recover]

Tell them in the broadcast [Dis leur à l’antenne]

That time is going fast [Que le temps passe vite]

Don’t forget the past [N’oublie pas le passé]

Our effort will last [Notre effort perdurera]

Our effort will last [Notre effort perdurera]

Nous venons prendre le relais [We  come to take over]

Pour vous le redonner [To give it back to you]

On vient le fredonner [We  come to hum it]

On va se la donner [We’ll give it everything]

On vient pour gagner [We come to win]

En anglais ou français [in English or in French]”

2023 has taken off to an interesting start. With our plate full of varied client projects, with new prospects in sectors further afield, we’re excited to see where this year takes us, always working with those who aspire for change and hope for the future.