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Thunda Hawk Sound (reppin’ Lawrence Heights aka Jungle) hosted Sound System Fridays this weekI was introduced to them by my boy, Plucky (aka J-Nyce) who’s been trying to get me to book them for Sound System Fridays for the last eighteen months or so.  I never took him seriously because I didn’t think that he took the dubplate/Sound system business seriously – little did I know.  I spoke to Plucky the day of the broadcast, he explained to me that he wouldn’t be making an appearance later on that night, but, that his Sound would be there to represent.  The only thing he didn’t tell me was that they would be arriving late – as in, over 90 minutes late!  Even after they arrived (they didn’t have a ‘good’ excuse), it took them 15 minutes before they dropped their first chune.

Luckily for Thunda Hawk Sound, I wasn’t in a bad mood.  Truth has it, most Sounds as of late, show up late for their show – it has almost become ‘the norm’ even though this practice is unprofessional.  I don’t quite know the reason behind it, but, I can throw out a some guesses – the Sound might be disorganised, they might lose track of the time or they’re relying on others for transportation and for some, it’s a tactic.  Some Sounds lack the insight of fearlessly playing for three straight hours as they don’t want people to know just how ‘deep’ their box is.  I must admit, I had fun playing for the first hour – I ‘killed’ it musically!  I was a little disappointed with the transition – I had to wait another 15 minutes for them to get ready, set and play their first chune.  I could have continued playing.  It was time for Thunda Hawk to shine!

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I’ve got to give Thunda Hawk some credit though, from the beginning of their show until the end, it was a smooth ride – musically speaking.  Thunda Hawk Sound is composed of MC Poison (Owner), MC Ice-Ras, DJ Chronic M.D., J-Nyce (Plucky), Greg Hawk, Mr. C. and Indian Stitch – the latter three were absent from the show.  Chronic M.D. is a smooth mixer and his dub selections proved it – the night was well-paced and took on a mature tone.  I had a good time listening!  Whoever’s at the helm of Thunda Hawk knows exactly what they’re doing – from their vision to dub cutting.

However, it’s one thing to impress me, but, what about the ‘chat’ room critics?  They weren’t having it!  They too had been disappointed by Thunda Hawk’s late arrival and were giving it to them throughout the show.  Despite their well cut dubs, they were guilty of dropping ‘early warm’ dubs during the peak hours of the show.  The critics and Soundman alike were definitely not buying into their excuse – ‘holding back dubs for Fully Loaded’.  It was poor judgement on their part!

Thunda Hawk expressed their fearlessness when it came to ‘speech’, but, only took it so far – they didn’t call out any Sounds names.  Big Up Thunda Hawk – a 20-year-old Sound that has been revamped after being parked for a while (the owner was playing for another Sound)!  I hope they’ve got something in store for Fully Loaded, we’ll just have to wait and see.  Big Up the artiste of the night – Kelard!  This artiste is ripe and on point – he needs to hit the studio and record songs for radio airplay.  Check him out, you’ll be impressed!

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Thunda Hawk did make one grave error that night.  During their interview, I had asked them about their ‘clash’ victory record.  They bragged and boasted about winning several clashes and that they had the trophies to prove it.  I then asked them to recount a favourite memory from one of those clashes – nothing.  The chat room got hot!  According to the chat room participants, the clash they spoke of never happened, they were lying.  That didn’t sit well with some of them who immediately took to Canadian Sound Clash Fraternity on Facebook to voice their opinion.  I, of course, was unaware of this at the time, but, can confirm the threads existence.

As for why a Sound would make a claim like that, it’s beyond me!  I don’t even understand the calling of competing Sounds names – smh!  Needless to say, it backfired on them – some of those ‘supposed’ competing Sounds were tuned in to Sound System Fridays.  All I can say is, I wish them luck in cleaning up this mess!  You can bet, come Fully Loaded, it’ll resurface and they’ll have to face it head on!  Enjoy the Podcast!

P.S. You can now find these Podcasts on iTunes – Just type ‘ReggaeMania Radio’ into their search bar.
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