Dread Man Walking

By Joe Kavanagh

Music is a world of many stars but few icons; that is, a person who is readily recognized as embodying the very essence of their craft, a person whose image, and being, are larger than life.

Names like Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Bob Dylan certainly meet the criteria, having contributed so much to their art that the media is continuously trying to find the new version of them, which almost inevitably casts an unfair pall over the chosen artist, who almost inevitably fails to meet the towering expectations placed on their unwitting shoulders.

Few would argue that Bob Marley also ranks among the great icons in music, having all but invented an entire genre, stood for something bigger than himself and given the fact that his music has endured far longer than his all too brief life.

In contrast to the other three previously mentioned icons, the media has rarely bestowed the title of "new Bob Marley" on anyone, until recently when a young singer in the UK began making waves with the strength of his songs, and the positive nature of his message.

Ordinarily such a label can be dismissed as simple hyperbole or media hype designed to sell albums and/or newspapers, but this label deserves further investigation when it is uttered by the Times newspaper, a publication that prides itself upon its restraint.

Whatever the case, it is proclamations like this or another journalist who declared that "he is singlehandedly doing for UK reggae what Mike Skinner did for UK rap", which have made the singularly named Londoner, Natty, one of the hottest stars on planet earth.

While obviously flattered, Natty casually dismisses the Marley comparison with typical insouciance, asserting: "That man's a legend, I'm just... some dude from North London."

In fact, the young man whose birth name was Alex Modiano, does not even really consider himself as a straight up reggae phenomenon, preferring instead to use a variety of genres to express his inner voice.

Born to a mother from the tiny African country of Lesotho, and an English father, of Italian lineage, Modiano grew up in the cultural melting pot of north London, absorbing his environs as easily as he absorbed the music that proved the soundtrack to his youth.

Through friends and family, he became familiar with a hodgepodge of music, with names like Marley, Neil Young, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye and Prince dominating his youth.

By 10-years-old, he had begun playing guitar and shortly afterward began scribbling down his own lyrics to songs and poetry, a habit he has been unable to break ever since.

By his early teens, he had put down the guitar and begun working with beats and shortly thereafter required the moniker he goes under today.

One day, while in his mid teens, he accidentally left his mother's treasured Bob Marley album, Natty Dread, on a sunny windowsill, completely destroying the record. Heartbroken, his mother lit into her young son so thoroughly in front his friends, that his entire group began referring to him as "Natty", and the name just stuck.

He rededicated himself to the guitar and learned the musical computer program Cubase, before attending a job interview at London's famed, Sphere Studios.

After slightly exaggerating his credentials and exuding enthusiasm, he initially took up the position of tea boy, but soon spread his wings by arriving at the studio early or waiting until everyone had left each night, so that he could work on his own ideas and learn the intricacies of the trade.

He also rubbed shoulders with the artists that came to record there, including such names as Razorlight, Mos Def and Chic's Nile Rogers, and Natty picked up something from all of them.

Four years went by and despite being recruited heavily by bands that wanted him to produce their work, he had never truly viewed himself as a producer, preferring to work on the tunes he had continued writing since his teen years.

Initially, he attended open-mic nights throughout the city, showing up with just his guitar and sometimes colluding with fellow dreadlocked singer, Jon Blood, who traveled the same circuit with his own clutch of tunes.

Within a couple of short years, a buzz developed around him and record executives began attending his gigs in places like Shoreditch and Camden.

The whole experience of being wined and dined did not sit well with Natty, and his skin still crawls when he recalls clichéd agents telling him that they would "make him a star", retaining a particular grimace for the suit that asked him if he had ever thought how he would look on a billboard.

Ironically, the final answer came when he was asked to open for his own idol, and the only man other than Bob Marley who could legitimately lay claim to inventing reggae music: Lee "Scratch" Perry.

The crowd from the Camden gig had barely left the venue when Atlantic Records made him an offer that he consented to, simply because they "were the coolest" of the chasing pack.

The world got to know what the secret was about, when Natty made his debut in May, with an EP titled, Cold Town, an astute examination of the kind of low-level paranoia that existed in London in the wake of the 7/7 bombings.

To a Londoner who prides himself on his ability to read the pulse: "There was racial tension all over, a lot of things going on with hoodie culture and kids stabbing each other. I just put all those things into words, trying to work out how it fitted together.

"The song's a picture of London and its complexities. I'm singing about how far we've come, but asking why it all started falling apart a while ago." The song exemplifies his talent and certainly harkens back to the protest reggae of Marley, Burning Spear and Black Uhuru.

The EP served as a considerable opening shot and the months since have seen his profile rise steadily with appearances on the BBC's famed TV show launch pad, Later With Jools Holland and an equally acclaimed turn at this year's Glastonbury Festival, where his good vibrations and smooth sounds positively entranced the crowds.

The next act came in the form of his debut album, Man Like I, which hit shelves on July 14, a particularly apt date for a release by a man who wants to improve the world, given the fact it is Bastille Day.

A forward-looking mixture of reggae, soul, indie, afrobeat and the slightest hint of hip hop, the album offers something for everyone and its wonderfully crafted lyrics are a perfect example of the humanity that has been so sadly lacking from much of the world's music in the past couple of decades.

His songs offer enlightenment without preachiness and caution without pessimism, and despite his background as a studio rat, he has admirably managed to rein in the technology involved, resulting in a listening experience that is almost entirely organic.

Like him or not, Natty believes in what he is singing and delivers those songs like well-flighted arrows, each one carrying with it the weight of his conviction and the skill of his songwriting.

He may not be Bob Marley, but you cannot help but think that the father of reggae would be very proud of the young Londoner following in his giant footsteps.