It’s hard to be upset while listening to reggae. While reggae has a storied history of protest, the messages of unity and love are front and center of the genre’s mission. The Higgins family, and their group Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, provide the Memphis community and the world at large with their unique spin on this genre’s storied history of positive messaging. By combining dub and trap beats with synth pads and aux percussion on their newest EP, Crew Vibez, the group provides an uplifting and adventurous collection of songs.

Kicking off with “Link Up,” CCDE immediately indicate that what they are looking for is connection. The repeating refrain of “tell me when you wanna link up” echoes that human need for companionship, and the central theme of unity in reggae. Plus, lines like “I wanna be good to ya / what you need is a rude boy to cling to ya” are just instantly charming. The vocal performances on “Honey” sound urgent, earnest, and honest, words that could be used to describe the entire EP.

Halfway through the song, a gorgeous, fuzzy guitar solo bursts through the mix taking the song into the stratosphere. “Back Bitah Sound” might be the best song on the EP, Leaning heavily on that dub rhythm and a swelling organ as the backbone, CCDE reminds listeners to find positive people rather than continuing to associate with people that bring you down.

They sing, “protect your heart before they harm you now.” The penultimate track, “Warzone” recalls the messages of this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, all over a nasty synth line and pulsing beat. And finally, “Lite To Me” is a gorgeous ballad to wrap up the EP. The main hook of this song will stuck in your head for days, showing CCDE’s ability to write instantly catchy and accessible melodies. 

As I was listening to this EP, there wasn’t a moment where I didn’t feel empowered. Crew Vibez is a celebration of life, and a reminder of the uplifting power of reggae. CCDE showcase their incredible range here, from songs about hooking up at the club to fighting for justice to cutting negative influences out of your life. It’s almost as if there’s nothing this group couldn’t do. Next time you need a positive auditory influence, give Crew Vibez a spin!

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Right now the main members of the band are the duo me David and Joseph we both write sing and play instruments Joe produced every song on the album (Crew Vibes) with help from a friend of ours Ryan Peel

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Chinese Connection Dub Embassy? How long has the band been around?

Well im in my older brother Omar's band Negro Terror and we play in all kinds of bands from a church prasie team called PMA which we got the name from a Bad Brains song to a Jazz fusion band that plays everything.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

It's kind of a funny story. We got signed to a little record deal in late 2009 into 2010 with a friend of our who is a drummer from the Bahamas he had a connection with Paramount. So they wanted to give us a small advance to just record and not play live but Omar didn't really wanna sign to anything major, he really loved playing live so we changed our name to do that. Omar came up with the Chinese Connection part and David came up with the Dub Embassy part and we just put them together.

The name comes from a Bruce Lee film in which he fought against racial tension in China, the Dub part came from the style of Reggae music we wanted to utilize more of in our sound where we could get creative with delays and reverbs. The Embassy part came from we considered ourself a safe haven for all people to enjoy our vibes it didn't matter if you are black, white, gay, or straight you can feel safe to secure at all shows or parties.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

We write all of our songs me and Joseph Higgins and the main themes really what comes with making and overstanding Reggae music, its life music we talk about social injustice, racism, love of life, relationships, sinsemilla, spiritual connection, truth and rights. Because it's Reggae music it tends to prophecies things to come or topics that are just timeless that never go out of style. Reggae and early Dancehall topics are endless and do a great job at uniting us all, so as long as we stay true to that formula and history I think our only challenge is to continue to grow as musicians.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

Our Dads band, Majid Jordan, For Peace Band, The Late Ones, Action Bronson, Young Dolph, Marley Family, Cronixx, Protoje, Giggs, NLE Choppa, Bad Brains, Rocky George, Shawn Lane

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Really our father played with Rufus Thomas and with BB King and Our older brother always had live jams at the house playing metal, punk, reggae and everything in between. But we saw the Roots live that was inspiring but we had an old VHS with a UK reggae group called Aswad that our uncle gave us. It was a 1988 concert and the energy and vocals really made us wanna play live and make those connections.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Really meditate and just get away from people and stretching is so important you gotta be fitness has to be part of being a on stage performer, you just feel better and to play and instruments we are are alway training small muscles.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

To finish music videos and continue to grow our sound, we played the Beale Street Music Fest which was amazing and we won a few awards but i think the docoumenty Negro Terror that features Omar and both (CCDE and NT) bands is something that will also inspire generations to come.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

We would love to have toured with Sade; they played everything from Jazz to Reggae. Damian Marley would be a great tour mainly when he toured with Nas, our sound with theres would have been a great experience. SInce im in Negro Terror i would love to have done a DJ (King Tubby style) CCDE live set and then grab a guitar and play a punk set with Negro Terror which included some reggae in the begining of the set.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for continuing to support us. We wanna make a deluxe edition of this new album so we need support from our fans (new and old) and lovers of new innovative reggae and dancehall. Much Love

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