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BINGHI GHOST

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Name: Cody Schrey
Web Site: www.BinghiGhost.com
Contact: Binghi Ghost
Suite #5245 College Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94618
(510) 301-7552

Binghi Ghost is a multi-talented chanter.  From his cultural selections to his dancehall incantations to his hip-hop chants, Binghi Ghost remains true to his cruzial roots foundation. 

Music

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The Music

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2004 saw the debut release of Binghi Ghost on the Street Scholars recording "Street Hits'.  The 18 selections on this album run the full gamut from roots and culture to dancehall to hip-hop. 

Binghi Ghost - Street Hits

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Biography

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I grew up & came of age, for the better part of my life, on a little island in the Caribbean not more than 70 nautical miles southwest of Puerto Rico, & 1200 miles south-east of Miami, Fl.

This island is known as ‘Cruz’ to the people who live there, who are also known as ‘Cruzans’ or ‘Crucians.’  St. Croix is the globally known name of this place and what an interesting place it is.

Imagine a place where watches are of the least importance, while learning to “be where you’re at” takes utmost importance.  Relax.  Just cool.  Soon come…these are the very terms that come closest, quickest, to explaining for a foreigner what to expect when you reach this vibes out island.

Music is key to the history and life of the people of the Virgin islands…from the calypsonians of yesteryear, to the soca monarchs & road march champions …to the upful reggae vibrations that can currently be heard resonating the whole world over, music has always been, and will always be a large reason the islands are the way they are.

But don’t get it twisted, struggle and fighting brutal oppression are an even bigger reason why St. Croix is such a powerful place.  Kings and queens, emperors and empresses abound, and it’s the lineage of these royalty whom we have to site up when giving thanks for who we are today.  Nothing comes easy in life, and if it does you should check it twice.  In the Caribbean it’s no different, people struggle, people hustle, people go hungry and people rob and worse.  What do you expect a man to do who has children but no food to feed them?  Lie down & die?  Of course not…and since the bloodline of the virgin islanders is that which runs as a mirror image to west African bloodlines of yesteryear, you must know the men are lions and the women lionesses’. The colonialists learned very early on that those held captive had explosive rebellious abilities.  That is why the Caribbean freed itself from the oppressors a long time before it’s American counterparts.  Everything must have balance, and St. Croix has a long history of both triumph and oppression.  Go site up the discussion board for some very captivating stories of Virgin Islanders who have helped to shape world history.

But let’s get back to the music, since I am a musician and that’s why you’re here, to hear music.  I grew up listening to all kinds of music, but the order of what caught my attention goes like this; 1st I listened to my parents old records, blues, jazz, rock, reggae and everything in between.  When I was around 11 I started getting into soca music, the likes of ‘Arrow’, the mighty ‘Sparrow’, ‘Byron Lee & the dragonaires.’  Then when I was 12 I had this craving for all things Bob.  I went around to all my parents fren’ dem and recorded as many Marley cassettes as I could get my hands on.  Then I got into hip hop. From about 13 to 15 I was really into rap, collecting over 100 cassettes and reciting my favorite tunes and writing the lyrics down until I remembered them on my own.  Then I tired of the bragadocia of the American streets and returned to the reggae which courses thru my veins.  I picked up Ninjaman, went to Shabba ranks, Mad Cobra, Maxi priest, Ziggy Marley shows when they passed thru the island...I listened to my fathers steel pulse vibes, of course Robert Nesta, Peter, Bunny.  By 10th grade I was back deep into reggae music, moved by the foundation but even more interested in the dancehall dj’s who ripped microphones to pieces with rapid fyah deliveries. Shabba ranks was a big time reggae artist, and I have to site up his style as a major influence in those early years.  When Garnett silk was at the top of his game, when ‘Pinchers’ came out with “Bandelero”, When Tony Rebel did ‘Nazarite Vow’,  when Ed Robinson did ‘knocking on heaven’s door’..yu can be sure I was right there in my bedroom..listening to the late night reggae jam with Kenny cool J, recording every thing that appealed to me…Shelly Thunder, Ninja Man, Super Cyat, Nardo ranks, Cobra, Capleton..the whole ah dem.

Fast forward to 1995, when I left the island to pursue a college education.  I ended up in North Carolina of all places.  Why?  Because when the guidance counselor asked me where I wanted to go to college I didn’t have a clue…so I closed my eyes, and blindly pointed somewhere on the map…when I looked I was pointing directly on top of Charlotte, NC..and so that’s where I went. Stayed there 1 year in which time I found out that the south has a funny way of dealing with race.   They just don’t deal with it.  Whereas in the islands, everyone pretty much represents to the fullest, the south united states is still living in the 1960’s.  After jumping on stage with Pato Banton in North Carolina, I moved back down to St. Croix and enrolled in college there for the summer.  Once that was done I headed to Orlando fl…and after doing one year at a college there I finally came to rest in Tallahassee, fl.  It was here that I really began taking music seriously.   I must hail up X-facta and none other than Jah Indika for giving I & I the opportunity to take music to the higher levels.  I was the mic man on a 5-person soundsystem representing the Virgin islands.  2 of us were from St. Croix, while 3 were from St. Thomas.  We started off small but before we knew it we were packing venues on the regular, making classic reggae mix cd’s and gaining a following we like to call the ‘X-facta Army.’ It was this same army that made it known to the Jamaican sounds who would come to clash us that they weren't dealing wid no lickle tin pan sound.  It was then that I recorded my 1st actual songs, the 1st being a freestyle for ‘X-facta’ that was recorded in a dorm room, and the second a collaboration with another Virgin islands artist which ended up as track #12 on our roots vibe mix cd….we were linking with Bunny Ruggs of Third World, Michael Rose of Black Uhuru fame, up & comers out of Orlando who all would cut us some huge dubplates for our collection.  All these things just added to our ability to slew the ice cream sounds who would come try fi test we…and also these experiences only solidified in my mind that music was going to be a large part of I & I livity same way.

When I Graduated in 2001, instead of being able to head in the direction of securing a job and pursuing success, I man got caught up in the Babylon system, the same one which holds over 2 million sistren & bredren as you read this.  Of course the meditative herb was the reason, and though they tried to crush I upfulness, man an’ man was able to go in and come out in a very short matter of time.

Once released from underneath mystery Babylon system, I decided to join a college friend in Washington DC area and work for her parents, and in doing so…prepped myself for climbing another rung on the ladder of musical experience.

About 1 month into my stay there I met Chris ‘Romero’ Singh (you might remember the ‘Big Pun’ video that was done all in computer graphics which ‘Romero’ created) who had a label called ‘Insomnia Records.’ He wasn’t even interested in hearing what I had at 1st, he was just passing thru to check my friend.  But when she said that he should really listen to my music he obliged her, and we went in his big body benz to bump some Binghi ghost tunes.  He was talking and looking at me really suspect, and all I had was a cassette tape recording of some of the ‘X-facta’ recordings, which made him even more suspect.  But when the tune started playing, he turned to me immediately and was like “Is that you?!”  yeah, that’s me I said.  The one & only.  Basically, to make a long story short, we were in the studio the next night, recording what would turn out to be my 1st real demo, a 4 song cd,  recorded in a studio & mixed down by an engineer. I must hail up Dj Arsonal for providing the beats that to this day still make people jump.  And of course to ‘Ro’ for giving I & I the opportunity to shine.  At present, Arsonal is still making bangers for the hip hop industry and some of which he has sent my way to record on, and we will continue to work together and make the cross country connection.  ‘Ro’ is doing big things too, with the creation of a record company called ‘Capital Gains Records’ and an artist named ‘Blyss’ who has been slated to be the king of hip hop coming out of the DC area.

From DC I went to NYC for a month and though I found it to be exuberant and full of things for me to get into, it was too much hustle & bustle for a Ras’.

I booked a flight for California, the bay area, East Oakland to be exact, and almost 3 yrs later, that’s where I reside.

Since touching down here I have made some huge connections thru music and have made even bigger steps with the recording of material.  About 2 yrs ago I ran into someone by random chance occurrence who would be key in introducing me to the vibrant musical community that exists in this Bay area.

‘Relic’(www.streetscholars.net) and I met up one day thru a mutual friend, and he had just finished some new tunes, and I had my cd on me.  We went and lisntened to music and not more than 3 days later I was getting the call from none other than the boss man himself, Sergio Monleon, to come in and record a verse on a reggae track that he and YP(young precise... www.streetscholars.net) were recording. It seems they had someone coming in to do it, but the person never showed, so…Kinda like how Tim Duncan (fellow Virgin Islander) got the chance to play at wake forest because their starting forward was injured, so was  Binghi ghost introduced into the ‘Streetscholars’ camp.

1 year, 50+ shows and 30+ recorded tracks later, we are going strong and continue to pump out tunes, do shows, radio, tv, and drop albums.  ‘Relic’s’ album is finished and dropping on sept 11th, my album is finished as well, and dropping in late September, to be followed by the release of a breddren who does many works with us ‘Iroc’(www.komplexrecords.com) and then to cap it off, a next ‘Streetscholars’ artist, YP, will be releasing his solo project.  Check out the above mentioned websites for more info and to hear the breddrens works.

I have started work on my 2nd album and am gathering some outstanding production for this effort.  Look for a solid, studio album, with some heavyweight special guests on this 2nd project.  And remember, I & I have material wha longah den rope, so yu can expect a slew of albums to come out one after the other.

Before I end this, I just wanted to site up Rastafari for the I-tinual guidance which has been provided, listened to & learned from.  Rastafari livity is about a loving livity.  Learning to just exist, to be in harmony with naturality,  to live…and most of all, to love.  RAAASSSSSTTTTAAAAAFFFFFAAAARRRRRIIIII.

GUIDANCE & BLESSED LOVE.
-BiNgHi GhOsT

Aug.20.2004


Album Reviews

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JahWorks.org:
Binghi Ghost is a young sing-jay from reggae hotspot St. Croix, but unlike most of the music I've heard from the Virgin Islands thus far, his sound is more focused on dancehall and hip-hop than the roots sound of Midnite and others. About half of the album features dancehall riddims, but there's still a good dose of roots (about 6 or 7 tracks). While only 3 or so tracks have hip-hop beats, there are another 5 or so on which Binghi Ghost has guest MCs rapping, so chances are your enjoyment of Street Hits may depend partly on how much you enjoy your reggae peppered with hip-hop beats and, more importantly, rapping. - More

Reggae Reviews:
It starts quietly. Someone is talking gently, unpretentiously about Rasta livity. Hmm, what is this? Street Hits? Really? But then some chords pound and suddenly we’re immersed in a quick reggae rhythm with voices impulsively chanting—each competing for attention, each passionate, each tuneful. The momentum builds, those voices flowing up and down and around, all propelled by the incessant hip-moving beat. - More

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