CEO/Founders Kemar Baylis(Kemist) & Peju Watson
[email protected]/[email protected]
(876)8700280/(876)5093856
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Introduction
Venom Records was founded by Kemar Baylis and Peju Watson on July 20th 2010 in Kingston, Jamaica. They both worked at ACS E-services which was a call center that did outsourcing in Jamaica
; at the time Peju was a Floor manager/Team Manager and Kemar was a Listener care/email representative. Ironically their first encounter at work could not be deemed as a pleasant one, as they got in to a minor disagreement over a work related issue, which brought about somewhat of an animosity between them. However, Peju had produced a New Rhythm instrumental called the "Venom Rhythm", as he would do from time to time as he had signed a publishing deal with Gussie Clarke of Anchor Recording for 5 years. He therefore gave the instrumental to a Co-worker that he heard performing at the company's talent show. The Co-worker recorded on the instrumental and began playing the track to other workers on the call floor. Kemar being a lover of music, wanted to hear the track and was not only impressed by the track from the Co-worker but was also impressed with the instrumental as well. He asked who created the instrumental and was told it was Peju. However, Kemar is known to be very bold and really enthusiastic about music, which drove him to locate Peju on the Call floor to get confirmation if he was the creator of the instrumental, Peju confirmed that he was and suddenly the hatchet was buried as they both had one common interest and that was music. Early Beginnings
Since the day of the burial of the hatchet, they spoke frequently and intensively about music and coming together to form a label. They wanted a name for the label and Peju thought of a brilliant idea of name being Venom from the rhythm that brought us together and Venom Records was born. Kemar then told Peju about a Young upcoming artiste that he was managing name Mitch Berg that he thought would do very well on the instrumental. The following day he brought demos of the artiste and played them through Peju's car stereo and Peju was pleased with his work but was very impressed with the last track on the demo cd which had about 6-7 tracks. The instrumental was given to Mitch Berg and a meeting set by Kemar to meet with Mitch Berg at the Sovereign Super Center in Kingston. When Peju saw Mitch Berg he immediately noticed his hardcore gangster image and his affiliation to Movado, has he had on T-Shirt with Movado and several other apparel that would indicate that he knew him. Mitch was then asked to sing on the Peju's instrumental which he was immediately impressed by. They then decided to voice the track at Anchor recording a few days later. First Project
Due to how the instrumental was constructed the Duo thought it was best to do a medley of songs rather than an exclusive single. Kemar being the promoter of the projects began sending the instrumental to a number of well-known artistes. It caught the ear of recording artiste Psycho Tan Bad who expressed an interest in Co-producing on the project, where he would get some well known established artiste to voice on it and split a 50-50.Psycho did his part by getting some well known Dancehall artiste such as; Kiprich Hawkeye, Miss Thing, Kibaki, Flexx, G.Monei, Psycho Tan Bad among others. With that manifesting, everything looked positive for the new label. They agreed upon a first quarter 2011 release for the project, then tragedy stroked, Mitch Berg was killed in Dec of 2010, he was ambushed by gunmen at his home and one single shot to his head killing him. Reconstruction of Venom
Due to the Death of Mitch Berg the Label was forced to delay the Venom Medley Project. They were recovering from the lost of a friend and artiste and needed to know what steps to take from there. Peju then remembered a long time friend and upcoming artiste by the name of Kariz-Matikk who was introduced to him several years prior. Kariz-Matikk was introduced to Kemar and sung a number of his tracks; Kemar was very impressed as he referred to him having the full package. He was then signed to Venom Records in April 2011 to a 2yr development and management deal. Projects released
That same year Kariz-Matikk and Venom immediately began working on his Debut single. He was given most of the infectious rhythm created by Peju and recorded on a few of them, then, they all came to an agreement that they would go with the track "Ghetto Youths on the Viper Rhythm. They also did a video that was directed and produced by Peju and Kemar and edited by Psycho Blacks, a young upcoming editor and longtime friend of Kemar. The track and video landed Kariz-Matikk an interview and performance on Hype Tv's Up and Live program, it was also in heavy rotation on Re Tv. The track receives fair air play. This gave Kariz-Matikk a nice platform has a young artiste to be known especially in his community. Due to this exposure, Kariz-Matikk manages to perform on a number of stage shows especially in his community of East Kingston. The label used the opportunity to promote the single which slowly became a street anthem as the lyrics made direct reference to the misfortune of the people of Tivoli due to the incursion that took place in the area in the middle of 2010. The single quickly became an anthem in Tivoli Garden and other underprivileged areas in Jamaica. The label then decided to release Kariz-Matikk's second single "Bad mind tek over" which instantly became a "Hot Pick" video right behind Lady Saw's "Heels On" on Hype TV VTX countdown. He was invited to Hype Tv a second time for an interview and performance, which received favorable response from the public. The "Bad Mind Tek Over" video also got heavy rotation on other local and cable stations such as; RETV, CVM TV and MD TV. The third single "Dance" collaboration between Kariz-Matikk and Boneless Dancers has been the Labels best project thus far, reaching the number 6 spot on Hype TV VTX count down in the second week of its introduction. It has also caused and increases in bookings and receives great feedback from both fans locally and abroad. Upcoming Projects
The Duo (Venom Records) is set to release the Spanish Carter Medley which features 7 of the hottest upcoming artiste from East Kingston. The track was produced Peju and executive-produced by Kemar (Kemist). The two will also produced the Video treatment for the medley and direct it as well. The video for that medley will be shot on the 29th of September 2013 at Port Royal. After that medley they will release singles and video for 3 upcoming artistes Zinzi, Teesha and Ras Ichael. Conclusion
Our aim is to produce quality dancehall and world music to world, placing more attention on the young upcoming artiste in an attempt to prepare them to replace the current legends in the Industry. Body of Work
Videos
A. 2 Videos for the single "Ghetto Youths (1 unofficial and the other Official)
B. Official video for the track "Bad mind tek over". Official video for the track “Dance"
D. Spanish Carter Video medley pending. Our Artiste's Performances and Progress
A. 3 performances and interview on Hype Tv
B. Interview and performance on Smile Jamaica. Second place winner on TVJ "Roll Out competition
D. Finalist in Sashga Artiste Elevation Competition (The competition is still in progress)
E. The opening act at Reggae "Kulcha Shock"
F. The closing act at "Our Fest"
G. The Turbo energy drink cross country tour. Charity events for school children and the less fortunate. (Sharing the stage with musical legends Ken Boothe and Nadine Sutherland)
