with which you are familiar. The best Bermudian music to listen to in a long time is the recently-released.

Cross Culture In De Area. Cross Culture, the band, is: Clive Francis, 23; Zahra (Digit) Zabbar, 17; and Dieter (King Kobra) Friehe, 18. In De Area, the album, is a quest for the heart of what constitutes Bermudian music.

"Just about all the music currently heard in Bermuda is imported,'' says the album's producer and featured instrumentalist Leland Hicks, dubbed `The Wizard' by the band during six months of rehearsal and recording. "Cross Culture is a tapestry made up of all the musical genres woven together, with each retaining its own unique vibe. The result is a new music format that's homegrown straight from the rock.'' House, rap, reggae, calypso and soca fuse in the Cross-Cultural vortex.

Francis and Kobra have worked together for two and a half years. Digit has added a female rap edge which broadens the band's arsenal for a serious attack on the charts.

"Cross Culture is likelier than any other Bermudian artist I've heard to succeed in the States,'' says Hicks. "Their music has world-class quality, and it's been a real thrill to write with them.'' Songs like Bump Up In De Um Um could only be Bermudian, and the multi-layered album is replete with local references which reward close listening. Cross Culture are set to make their formal live debut at this year's Reggae Sunsplash festival, although several other gigs are being lined up to add polish. The relentlessly professional approach is typical of the way every aspect of the album's launch has been handled.

Cross Culture In De Area is a highly listenable and addictive aural feast.

Francis, Dieter and Digit are refreshingly natural musicians, and Bermuda's current best hopes for international stardom now rely on the notoriously fickle global record industry. Roger Crombie.

Cross Culture, from left: Dieter (King Kobra) Friehe, Zahra (Digit) Zabbar and Clive Francis.

AUGUST 1993 RG MAGAZINE