FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2005

CONTACTS:
JACKIE O. ASARE
[email protected]JLM PR, INC
(212)431-5227
JODY MILLER
[email protected]

KINGSTON, JA – April 12, 2005 – With the continued success of dancehall and its influence on pop music worldwide, the buzz is on: Who are the next superstars to rise from Jamaica’s endless pool of talent? Hailed by the New York Times as “the world’s greatest dancehall-reggae boy band,” T.O.K. – the quartet of Alex, Flexx, Bay-C and Craigy T. – combine sweet melodic crooning and R&B harmonies with hardcore ragamuffin toasting for a sound that is truly unique and truly powerful. On their VP Records set, Unknown Language, named for the language barrier imposed by their native Jamaican patios, T.O.K. flexes their musical muscle with versatility and flair. “The inspiration for the new album title comes from just wanting to take the group and dancehall music to another level,” explains Bay-C. “We want to capture the whole world with our music.”

The group first tasted stateside success via their 2001 debut album My Crew, My Dawgs, which showed the world what T.O.K had to offer to the game,” Flexx says of the group’s debut effort. “It showed the talent and versatility of the group but this album is more about evolution than change.” T.O.K. harmonizes out over tracks from producers like the legendary Sly & Robbie, dancehall wizards Tony Kelly and Steve “Lenky” Mardsen. The album features Mr. Boombastic himself, Shaggy, on “De Ja Vu,” and the Reggaeton sounding “She’s Hotter,” featuring Miami’s own Pitbull. T.O.K. also appeared on MTV’s first “Advance Warning”– a prestigious nod to up-and-comers – and on the very first season of BET’s “106 & Park,” well before any dancehall artist graced that stage.T.O.K. is no stranger to the spotlight. The “Gal You Lead,” video was selected for MTV2’s “New Faces Of MTV2,”and debuted on MTV’s “Direct Effect.” Unknown Language’s first single “Gal You Lead” produced by Bobby Konders was listed in Blender Magazine’s “Top Songs of 2004”and is already a crossover hit in the clubs and on urban radio powerhouses like New York’s Hot 97 and Miami’s Power 96.

The group’s single, “Footprints,” is the current hit in Jamaica holding the #1 position on the airwaves for two months in a row. The heartfelt song is a tribute to all the victims of violence. According to the Jamaica Observer more than 300 people have been murdered from January-March 2005 alone. If the trend continues there will be more homicides this year in JA than the record of nearly 1,500 people who were murdered in 2004. Shockingly the number of people killed in Jamaica is almost equal to 1,546 number of soldiers killed in the Iraqi War. With the murder rate steadily climbing in Jamaica, “Footprints,” has been used as a vehicle of healing for the band and all the people who have lost loved ones to the war plaguing the ghetto areas of Jamaica. The song’s first verse, “Hurry up and come back was the last thing she said to her son, the day his life was taken. She didn’t know he wouldn’t come back, he died from the bullet of a gun, and now her little boy is gone,” was written as a tribute to Alex’s own brother who was killed by a stray bullet.

“Hey Ladies (In The Air)” is the group’s latest single in Jamaica. The party/club anthem is featured on Bennett’s Jonkanoo rhythm. – With America’s – and the world’s – current fascination with dancehall steadily growing, T.O.K. knows that they have the watchful eyes of both their faithful fans back home and the genre’s newfound converts squared directly at them. “We make our music for all different types of people from different walks of life. And T.O.K. is too big, too broad, and too damn wicked for our music to be used to divide, but we wouldn’t be true to ourselves if our music didn’t stay rooted in our culture.” The balance of maintaining identity to the homeland and expanding to the global market is a fine line, but it’s a responsibility the group takes seriously, regardless of the Unknown Language they seem to speak. If The Source Magazine is to be believed, then T.O.K. has successfully fused all of their influences together and created a sound that everyone loves.” – Official Website: http://www.tokworld.com