American house music producer DJ Freddy Browne is currently in Jamaica on pioneering collaborative project with prominent dancehall music artistes.

Together, they are working towards creating a new sub-genre of music called ‘J-House’ which he hopes will be a vehicle to re-ignite global interest in Jamaican dancehall music.

Browne, who has worked with talent spanning from Shaggy and Devin di Dakta to Chaka Kahn and Sly and Robbie, developed a love for the diversity of Jamaican music during the early 80s when listening to Black Uhuru and Grace Jones.

He is known for highlighting multi-cultural acts from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean by incorporating them into his core house genre. The producer has arrived at a time when many local music pundits have been concerned about the decline of dancehall’s global visibility and influence

After visiting Jamaica in September of 2023 to get an authentic feel for the music, he has returned to create an album that will highlight the voices of dancehall artistes.

“Music leads all my conversations and the sounds of Jamaica have really ignited me. The talent here is overwhelming and I’m ready to dive in, fusing the hypnotic feel of house music with true Jamaican energy and accents. This is about true musical creativity. We want to build something that will bring the raw dancehall sound to new audiences. I can see Ding Dong performing for the first time at a festival like Tomorrowland. That crowd on its own is nearly a million people.”

Fueled by his passion for Jamaica, Browne along with his manager and executive producer of the album Zachary Harding of 2Hard Records, has conceptualized an innovative 100% dance music album where every single track on this innovative project will feature a Jamaican artiste. Aiming to shed more light on dancehall and provide increased musical opportunities for the local music community, the artistes confirmed so far include Ding Dong and Sasco. Voicing for the tracks will be taking place this week  primarily at Big Yard studios.

He notes that the transcendent power of music stems from collaboration.

“Music is truly a universal language and once the connection is right you can really make magic. You can hear influences of James Brown in Toots and the Maytals, and reggae in tracks by The Police. Even house music and EMD have roots here in Jamaica. It’s really about getting into the studio and letting the music happen. I love Jamaica and I’m ready to raise the bar to whole new level for this project! ”

With a total of 20 dance music tracks already completed and ready to voice, Freddy plans to release them in two volumes – Volume 1 and Volume 2, each consisting of ten tracks. The music video for the first single featuring Ding Dong is expected to drop on April 5th.