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March 12, 2008
Mad Cobra Heating Up Europe & the World With Dancehall
By: Joseph Cunningham
MAD COBRA, now a veteran in the Dancehall, is quietly holding his own.Over the past year he has taken the music to places like Zurich, Switzerland where dancehall is only now just warming up. He is also a very big favourite throughout the Caribbean, USA, Canada, UK, Europe, South and Central America and Japan.
His performance in Costa Rica last year in front of an estimated 30,000 people is being hailed as one of the best presentations by a reggae artist in that country. Mad Cobra recently shot his first video in many years for the song called "Gansta Flex" and it has been getting rave reviews from fans all around.
Having been in the business close to 20 years now, Mad Cobra has been smart enough not to be complacent; hence music to him, in his words is, "A constant work in progress." Ewart Everton Brown (Mad Cobra) was raised in St. Mary, Jamaica and moved to Kingston as a teenager. He began performing under his stage name, taken from the G.I. Joe cartoon, while still in his teens. His first single, 1989's "Respect Woman," was produced by his uncle, Tuff Gong engineer Delroy "Spiderman" Thompson. "Na Go Work" was release number two and it caught the attention of producers Captain Sinbad and Carl Nelson. Together they released a string of hits, including "Shoot to Kill," "Merciless Bad Boy" and "Ze Taurus."
In 1990 Cobra began working with producer Donovan Germain and songwriter Dave Kelly on the Penthouse label. This partnership spawned a series of major hits in Jamaica, including "Yush," "Gundelero" and "Feeling Lonely." In 1991 and 1992, Mad Cobra broke into the UK charts with five number one hits. In the light of his British success, Cobra landed a deal in America with Columbia Records. Under this label he released an album entitled "Hard to Wet Easy to Dry," that featured "Flex" the smash hit that topped the US Rap Singles chart, hitting number 7 on the R&B chart, and peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the single propelled the album to number 125 on the Billboard Top 200.
In remaining true to his word in terms of taking it to the public this
year, one of Cobra's latest videos entitled "Don't Cry" is sure to raise many eyebrows. His last album, "Snypa Way" was released last year and got very good reviews to date, while "Helta Skelta" is the latest project, soon to be released. This album already has popular singles from it like "A A," and "Gangsta Flex," being played in the dancehalls and clubs.