Entertainment Macco

Date of Interview: 01st March 2010

Time: 10:00PM (Trini Time)

On Sunday 28th February, 2010 the Entertainment Macco published an interview with UK based artiste Donae'o, the singer and songwriter of the Hit "Party Hard", a song that received very favourable airplay throughout the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2010 season. The intent of the interview was to introduce the Caribbean to this artiste that most of us had never heard of before but instead we uncovered some interesting news and found ourselves smack dead in the middle of ah bachannal, bringing to light to us and the rest the world that the party hard remix featuring Problem Child, was "Bootleg." Immediately after our publication we were contacted by St Vincent's 2010 Road Monarch Champion Problem Child with a desire to voice his side of the story. Of Course Maccoing is our business so we agreed.

This is what Problem Child had to say.....

Entertainment Macco:Who is Problem Child?
Problem Child:“Is just a humble...Vincentian entertainer who loves music..."

Entertainment Macco: Why did you contact the Entertainment Macco?
Problem Child: “Because I read the interview and I felt as though I should voice my side of the story…."
Entertainment Macco: We appreciate the fact that you contacted us…

Entertainment Macco: Is it true that you recorded and released the “Party Hard” remix without Donaeo's authorization?
Problem Child: “Yes I recorded it without authorization but I never released it….
Entertainment Macco: Why?
Problem Child: “I figured the two personalities would make a great collaboration…I did it with the hopes of impressing them. It was recorded just for them to hear and to lead to some sort of agreement with them….Someone was supposed to contact them for me and we had some difficulties getting to them…. Somewhere along the line someone leaked it and I cannot pinpoint who did it because I sent it to about 4 – 5 people just for them to listen to not for them to put out…”

Entertainment Macco: Did you attempt to contact Donae'o or his management before or after the release of the remix? If so how many times?
Problem Child: “Numerous attempts…emails….a link in UK who was trying to get a hold of them…. By the time we got a hold of them the song had already been leaked…”

Entertainment Macco: Did Donae’o say YES or No when you contacted him concerning the remix?
Problem Child: “We never got an absolute no….they wanted to know how it would benefit them….I told him that I wanted to introduce him to this side of the world…to our culture..it was my intention to help us both…We told them all we had to offer is bookings and any financial gain after the clearance of the record”

Entertainment Macco: How and when did you come across the original version of "Party Hard"?
Problem Child: “Summer of 2009 the same guy that was supposed to contact them (Donae’o and his team) for me…he introduced me to the funk style of music and I fell in love with it…I came across party hard and I remember receiving the song by email…cannot remember who sent it to me….around November time we recorded the demo version of what could have been the remix to send to them…”

Entertainment Macco: Did you perform Party Hard in Trinidad and Tobago for carnival 2010?
Problem Child: “Yea I performed it…I did my verses and the chorus”
Entertainment Macco: Were you hired or got paid to perform “Party Hard” at all for the carnival season?
Problem Child: “No Maam…Not a dime….I started singing "Party Animal" in the first couple of parties and patrons met me and continued to ask me to do it (Perform "Party Hard")…I decided to do it as a cover song…Other bands were singing other peoples’ songs like Vybz Kartel etc and since I wasn’t getting paid I thought it was not a big deal to perform it because I was not gaining financially”
Entertainment Macco: So all your appearances with Asylum were free?
Problem Child: “Yes..I went with the intention to perform “Madhouse” but it was not well received or as popular as I wanted it to be…I had no expenses there because of who I was staying with..it was more like a promotional venture for me”
Entertainment Macco: Alright…Got it!

Entertainment Macco: Did you or have you ever or tried to pass of “Party Hard” as your own? Lots of people are under the impression that you own it somewhat...
Problem Child: “Absolutely not….any interview I ever did….from Synergy to the radio stations I tried to clear up the error and told them it was not my song…I told them it is unofficial…..I do remember saying “unofficial remix” on the actual track…...at the end of it…I always said it was not my song…and I did always state it was a leak..That’s crazy!!!”

Entertainment Macco: What do you hope to achieve by doing this interview?
Problem Child: “To show that I am sorry for the situation at hand.. I humbly apologize to Donae’o and his team..my main thing is that the intention was not malicious at all…my motives were not driven by anything negative….I did not intend to exploit and I did not obtain any monies”

Entertainment Macco: We saw your apology video on youtube, why did you wait until Doneao’s interview to post that video?
Problem Child:“Because I had already apologized to them..I thought that the fact I said the song wasn’t mine would be sufficient…I did not want to put it out there because I did not know how big of a deal it was….A record company called me concerning a compilation and I told them I could not authorize them to put it on….I did not know it was so huge of an issue. The same gentleman from the record label notified me that negotiations were being made and talks were in the works so I thought something would have worked out…he received permission for the original version but not permission for MY VERSION”




Entertainment Macco: Are you familiar with the organization Riddim Stream?
Problem Child: “Yes I am”
Entertainment Macco: Did you authorize Riddim Stream to distribute the song “Party Hard” with your name only and no mention of Donae’o?
Problem Child: “That was done during the end of Trini Carnival….because many people were asking for the record and I did give them authorization to go ahead and do it…I never saw the content of the email..I never received the email blast from them and I suggest you contact them and they can confirm that I did not see the content…it was done as a favour for something I did for them”

Entertainment Macco: What was it about the song that made you want to do a remix?
Problem Child: “I like it..it is great work…..I just generally like the song the whole Party theme”

Entertainment Macco: Is it true that you contacted him (Donae’o) long after the song was released/leaked?
Problem Child: "We did contact them, way before...when we eventually heard from them it turned out the reason we could not get in contact with them was because they were away…that is probably why they did not receive the initial set of emails.. I also tried myspace…facebook...as soon as I realized the song was released/leaked..I contacted them again…I called him 3 times within the last 24hrs and left him 3 messages but to no avail….Each time the song seemed to have grown we contacted them very apologetic and that is how it went on for the whole duration of the situation"

Entertainment Macco: Nowww….it is very easy for people to believe that you did this maliciously….because of your song on the Kassav riddim…“Party Animal”, we were told that you did not get authorization for that riddim and you confirmed that in your YouTube apology.?
Problem Child: “When a producer sends you a riddim as an artiste…sometimes you just go with the flow and ask no questions…so I recorded the song and sent my vocals….this riddim was sent to me…The song was done so late in the season for St. Vincent Carnival, and it would have been too late for the person who the song was intended for to record and have it ready in time. It was basically a demo people were listening too…The song was not for me….I did not produce that beat…I took the responsibility because I did not want to involve the producer….in actuality I never asked for that beat..the producer should have cleared it….my song was not the only song on that beat that year but only I alone received the blunt because it was the “Big song”…..no one made mention of the 2 other songs on that beat….”

Entertainment Macco: Do you want to tell me the names of the other songs on the riddim?
Problem Child: "No! I rather not because it is not about them it is about me."

Entertainment Macco: When you found out that the riddim was "bootleg" what did you do?
Problem Child:“We tried to find out who had the publishing rights for that song….we were 90% close to authorizing the song…we had the paper work etc re: fees etc….. but up to this date we have not received any further correspondence from the people who own the publishing….”

Entertainment Macco: Do you think that your version of "Party Hard" is responsible for the song being a Smash hit?
Problem Child: “I don’t think so…In my opinion the song would have been big anyway….I don’t think so…I have been asked that before and I give the same answer”

Entertainment Macco: You won road march in SVG with another song…why did you not push that song instead of party hard….because I saw you perform at numerous events and you did not perform that Road March song…
Problem Child:“The intention was to perform it….to push and promote the song “Madhouse” however the song just did not connect the way that I thought it would…hence the first couple of shows I only did “Party Animal”…it was only after when I noticed a trend of other people doing other peoples’ music I decided to do “Party Hard” as well…”

Entertainment Macco: Do you think Donae'o or his management are over reacting to the matter at hand?
Problem Child: “No I would be very upset myself. I do not think they are overacting…Somebody has to be pretty stupid to take someone’s song and pass it off as their own…. I do not want them to think it was malicious or it was intentional…I am responsible for what happened if I did not send it to anyone it would not have been leaked…..I admit that I handled the situation wrong…I don’t want royalties or anything…they can clear that version and I can sign the paper work to say they own it….I did not do it for money….”

Entertainment Macco: So Donae'o will be in NYC soon and I heard you are also carded to perform on the same show. How do you plan on dealing with him in person or are you going to avoid him?
Problem Child: “This is news to me….I am not sure which show it is…the only show I am booked for is on March 13th…I am not sure if I will be performing, for business reasons..if it does happen..I will remain very apologetic..he has all right to be upset..I will not avoid him. I would like to speak with him…I am always willing to talk and make the situation better…I do not know if he will be willing to hear what I have to say because he seems highly upset”

Entertainment Macco: Do you regret doing the remix?
Problem Child: “I regret that I did not get in contact with them in time and that they did not get to hear it. I did not get a yes or no answer before it was leaked…my beef is with whoever leaked it. If I had to do it all over again… It would be done differently…

Entertainment Macco: How long ago was Party Hard released? Or maybe the better question to ask is how long ago was the Party Hard Remix recorded?
Problem Child: “Mid to late November it was recorded”

Entertainment Macco: What do you plan to do when this blows over?
Problem Child: “Continue to apologize..make sure they know I am sincere…keep trying to get them to understand that it was no act to disrespect them…I am determined to get them to understand…GOD looking down on me knows it was not my intention. Other than that SVG Carnival is coming up and I have a couple of releases to send out…I fell in love with the genre that he (Donae’o) is involved in and I have some of those beats that I have been authorize to use so I am looking forward to that…”

Entertainment Macco: Have you thought about what you are going to do if Donaeo’s team decides to take legal action?
Problem Child: “There is nothing I can do….The only thing that I would say is that it was not maliciously done….however if they do take legal action then that is something that I would have to accept…..”

Entertainment Macco: Is there anything you would like to let Donae’o and his management team know?
Problem Child: “Basically that I have a lot of respect for him as an artiste and as a man….we are all trying to achieve something and feed our families off of this profession and would never intentionally take food out of another artistes’ mouth. If there is anything I can do to appease the situation I would be more than willing to do it…at any cost….. My dream is for the song to become a reality, but it is quite clear that he does not want to do the song with me…. And a general apology to anyone who I may have disappointed….”