REGGAE | It's 420 - Grow A Plant

Artwork by: ZOOLOOK

That’s right… it’s 420, the official name of the unofficial holiday for cannabis users to light up a joint. And to celebrate 420, IRIE has teamed up with Arky Starch to bring you the Grow A Plant Riddim.

The Grow A Plant riddim started during a discussion between Arky Starch and ZOOLOOK about the state of reggae music regarding collaboration versus competition. ZOOLOOK, a multi-artist who has contributed to the comic book and 2D/3D animation community, felt that it was time to emphasize supporting and collaborating among artists instead of competing with artists.

In late January 2022, ZOOLOOK started a new feature in IRIE to spread artist support by creating the IRIE Trax of the Day. Every day, the team at IRIE picks a track and purchases it as a download while adding it to an official playlist. So for the artists, they get a much-needed sale while IRIE gets a theme song for the day. As of 420 (April 20), the playlist has reached over 15,000+ followers, and IRIE’s music collection has surpassed 74 Trax!

Back to our story, Arky had just completed a riddim and sent it to ZOOLOOK to listen. ZOOLOOK was thrilled by Arky’s slightly more commercial kind of track and suggested that they make it a 420 riddim.

They both started contacting artists, and before long, several artists had agreed to work on the 420 project with IRIE.

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The riddim Arky produced started from the bass line and used almost no skanks but with drum and bass on the verses, adding synth sounds and SFX. That’s a trademark of Arky, always aiming for original combinations.

The riddim got its name after ZOOLOOK and Arky started brainstorming about 420. Arky suggested GROW A PLANT RIDDIM, and the name just stuck.

“I love using the sounds from Reggae Loops by Renegade audio, adding some guitar, synth pad to finish it off with some percussion, and more SFX,” said Arky. “In the riddim, I combine live instruments with samples and loops. I create my music in Reason 11 (full suite), and for mastering my music, I prefer Ableton 10.”

For the album artwork, ZOOLOOK put his creative skills to work and created each of the artists in 2D illustrated format. They are now official members of STONEFRENGE, the reggae metaverse created by ZOOLOOK. To learn more about STONEFRENGE or to become a citizen, visit https://www.stonefrenge.com.

“The selection in this 420 release results from the creativity, inventiveness, and open-minded spirit that ZOOLOOK finds so essential. It was an irie experience to work with ZOOLOOK and IRIE Magazine to realize this project. And what I & I also feel crucial to see talents grow like our plant on STONEFRENGE. Respect.” – Arky Starch