Burning bright and shocking the music industry with long lasting creative beats and hit songs, Equiknoxx Music like its astrological name sake is an earth shaking experience.
Consisting of five trend setting past Wolmerians, Nicholas Deane, Derrick Coffie, Omari Fearon, Riccardo Martin and Gavin Blair, Equiknoxx Music began from the love these youngsters had for music while at school. Now, that love has developed into a full-fledged passion that ignites everyday in Eden Gardens, St Andrew where an average day at the studio is filled with music and the laughter of the regular entertainers who pass through the doors of the "Birds Nest" as it is often called.
The movement began back in 1999 when Blair and friends started a rap group at school coming up with a stroke of brilliance, the Equiknoxx concept, while idling in the library. Being a talented song writer Blair put his talents to working on the rap battles during school hours but soon turned his skills to building beats instead. A year later after high school, the group experienced a minor setback with some members migrating from the island. Forging ahead however Blair soon met up with Riccardo Jimmy ‘The Tucan’ Martin where the two continued to pursue music and the Equiknoxx name.
Producer Derrick ‘Koffy’ Coffie describes, "Gavin used to be one that did the mix tapes, Like he would tell people abroad to send money for the latest cd's and would end up making one because he would eat off the peoples money. I was the internet music junkie that would download the latest mixtapes and have all the exclusives, and before you know it i was linking up with all kinds of people. We were always in music. Gavin started to build beats and then Nick followed, then all of us. Nobody was formerly trained in the music we basically all jus know what good music is supposed to sound like. Learning something from experience I believe is way better than learning from books especially when it's something like music where feeling is a key ingredient”
Mainly computer-oriented, the group operates out of an up-to-date studio, consisting of a voicing room, a main operations room and an office. On a regular basis, the voices of artistes, such as Aidonia, Lil Joe, Tifa, Ward 21, Mr. Peppa, Italee, Timberlee, Natalee Storm, Spice, TOK and Ce'Cile, among others, can be heard in the studio. Whilst in Canada Ricardo Martin operates the sister label, 'Psych Ward Recordings', a fully functional recording and production studio.
The group has broken out in the music industry with compositions for Busy Signal’s break out album Step Out. Works from Equiknoxx Music include Busy Signal's Step Out, Vybz Kartel's Without Licence, Bounty Killer's Weh Dem Deh and Lil Joe's Don't Leave. They have also done the Octogon Riddim and Barbardian Rihanna's label mate Shontelle Layne's album, Shontelligence, with the single, Drop The Needle, which was released by Universal Records.
They also worked on the track, Walk Out, for Beenie Man on his Undisputed album, as well as Come Out And See by Mavado and De La Ghetto. Which was recently featured on all the international television stations, the crew has released the immensely popular 'Sky Daggering' rhythm, featuring Aidonia's Hundred Stab as well as Lil Joe, Spice, Tifa and others. Some of their latest releases include the ‘Swagger Dagger’ with Elephant Man, Aidonia, Shane O, Macka Diamon and others, they also have the ‘Cobba Cobba’ riddim which features Lil Joe, Aidonia, T.O.K, Mr. Peppa, Italee among others.
Equiknoxx is looking forward to work more with Mavado, Shabba Ranks and would want to work with the gargamel himself, Buju Banton. The producers of Equiknoxx Music distinguish themselves by their drive to explore inter-mixing genres. They hope to get label deals and produce top acts, especially new ones that have natural talent, Koffy explained, “In the future I see Equiknoxx making moves and taking Jamaica to places that still have not been exposed to our culture. We would also love to just be mentioned when someone mentions great Jamaican producers both locally and internationally.”
More than just producing music the members of Equiknoxx are business minded and have a number of business ideas on the table. Thus far the group has branched off into artist management and publishing and have been the creative force behind a great number of radio advertisements for some of the leading advertising agencies both locally and regionally.