Little Thunder Sound
One of the foremost pioneering forces in Montreal’s Jamaican music scene, Little Thunder Sound was founded in 1992 by brothers Donovan “Don Ignorance” and Courtney “Scroogie” Allen. The mobile soundsystem, established with the assistance of their father, Edgeton Allen, rapidly become synonymous with solid parties, exclusive sounds and quality Jamaican music, spearheading the spread of reggae culture - ubiquitous in the brothers’ homeland - to Montreal, the city they moved to as teens. In the nearly 20 years since its foundation, Little Thunder Sound - a term coined by the brothers’ father to denote something small but mighty - has built a sizeable empire involved in performance, promotion, record sales, artist management, as well as the hosting of 3 weekly online radio shows (globe-radio.com, tellstreamradio.com and madvibezradio.com). Though solidly founded on Island music, Little Thunder is a unit as versatile as it is fit - handling every music genre, venue and type of event with unchanging charm and ease. In its early years, Little Thunder honed its chops playing private parties and weddings. It wasn’t long, however, before it began competing in sound clashes; high-intensity musical face-offs in which opposing soundsystems vie for supremacy before a crowd. Little Thunder’s first major domestic victory was in Winnipeg in 1999, where it won first place. The sound’s ascendancy was further consolidated 2 years later when Montreal hosted its first sound clash competition, and Little Thunder defeated Crystal Sound. The dubplates Little Thunder played (exclusively recorded versions of songs in which the artist alters the usual lyrics to mention the name of the soundsystem who commissioned it), included original dubs by Elephant Man, Bounty Killer and John Holt. In 2003, after touring Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and Canada, Little Thunder clashed the legendary Bass Odyssey (Alexandria, Jamaica) and Rebel Tone (Toronto, Canada) and defeated Skyhawk Sound at Montreal’s Tiffany Hall. More recently, Little Thunder won the Stylus Award for Reggae DJ of the Year 2008 attributed by Pioneer DJ (it has been nominated for the same award every year since), as well as the Best Reggae/Dancehall DJ Award (People’s Choice) at the 2008 Montreal DJ Awards. Conjointly to the non-stop hustle and bustle of the soundsystem, the Allen brothers (again with the help of their father), opened Triple AAA Records in October 1999. A one-stop shop for exclusively imported reggae, dancehall, hip-hop and soca vinyls, the Victoria Avenue record store flourished, soon becoming a stomping ground for DJs whose success depended, in a time before the Internet, on securing the latest and freshest tunes. Later that same year, Little Thunder launched Triple AAA Entertainment, a promotional outfit dedicated to bringing international artists to Montreal and organizing top-of-the-line local dances and parties. Since its inception, Triple AAA Entertainment has booked (and shared a stage with) over 100 acts, including stars such as Sanchez, Glen Washington, Mr. Vegas, Beenie Man, Capleton, Bounty Killer, Sean Paul, Tarrus Riley, Busy Signal, Stone Love, Bass Odyssey, Elephant Man, Sizzla, and Japan’s Mighty Crown Sound. Performing alongside celebrities hasn’t stopped Little Thunder from maintaining a strong community presence at home. It routinely volunteers tunes at Jamaica Day parties and fundraisers and gives DJ-ing workshops and motivational speeches to Montreal high schools and community centers. At this time, their roster includes Jack Pot, a Montreal-based hip-hop artist as well as conscious reggae artist King Mee. As for the future, Little Thunder Sound has its sights on a European tour, as well as on the production of music compilations by contemporary Jamaican reggae artists. A fashion line is also in the works.
“WHO GOD BLESS NO MAN CURSE”
