CD Master talks ‘Toxicity’

Producer CD Master has definitely spread his wings since the year 2000 when he honed his skills as a mixtape maestro, while still working as a barber.

He subsequently packed up his barber kit and went into selecting full-time, touring with the likes of Etana, Nesbeth and RDX and getting involved in producing, establishing his own Inna Mi House label.

He recently produced two tracks on Bugle's new album, Toxicity, and he is elated.

"Me and Bugle coming from far, from Cooreville [Gardens] days, and I am really proud of this album and the tracks I produced: Time is of Essence and Consequences. It was #4 on Italy iTunes, #5 in USA, #7 in Norway and #9 in Spain and made several playlists on Spotify and other streaming services," CD Master told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Time is of Essence is a collaboration with Bugle, Julian Marley and Bounty Killer, and it was officially declared a 'Hot Track'.

"This collab started out with me speaking to Julian because he and Bugle are friends. So, originally, it was just dem alone on the track and then Bugle called me to say that he was putting on Bounty, and I was glad. Bounty is one of my artistes," he explained.

The producer, who says that he still has all his barbering equipment "just in case", is happy that he stuck to production even when other selectors criticised him for focusing on artiste development and building studio "when him fi deh pon di road".

When the pandemic hit and the "sound ting" screeched to a halt, his studio was his refuge and, in fact, made 2020 a blessed year, as he became one of the go-to persons who paved the way for sound systems across the globe to get specials from Jamaican artistes.

"I have a portable studio and my dubs are clean because I am a dub engineer as well. I have a lot of contacts with artistes and selectors internationally. So when COVID hit and things changed up, selectors started demanding dubplates and that opened up a big door for me financially," he explained.

CD Master, whose given name is Oneil Wayne Parkinson, was one of the main selectors for weekly dancehall event, Dutty Fridays.