$15.40 an hour (on 45)
Romain Virgo – Minimum WagePenthouse Records – PHEU 007Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Germany, 2013
The minimum wage in Chicago went up yesterday, so I'm sharing this one to celebrate.
Romain Virgo really caught my attention when I started hearing the young singer turn up on mixtapes in the early 2010s. Pop reggae to be sure, complete with lovers' songs and radio friendly hooks, all done well. So it's modern JA pop, but, at least on those early records and mixtapes that caught my ear, Virgo had a nice way of regularly working in tributes to the classic songs and rhythms slipping in his thoughts about the state of the world. Not big political statements, but even some of those lovers tunes were clear about where they stood, telling the stories of strugglers and working people. The first song I remember hearing by him, Rich In Love, is a good example.
I am rich in loveFinancially I'm a pauperIt's just you that I'm after...
What's not to love? (If you check the music video, make sure not to miss the little dancing girl around the 1:53 mark. If that doesn't make you like the song, there's no hope.) I was immediately singing along (and not missing the shades of Gregory Isaacs).
Minimum Wage was another Romain Virgo single from that time, joining Rich In Love on his 2012 album The System. It's another nice Virgo lyric:
Living under minimum wageMe no know how me do itLiving under minimum wageThem a rob the poor, you nah see itLiving under minimum wageMe no know how me do itIt's like me till the soil, plant the seed,Watch it grow and we still can't reap
The track is produced by long time reggae hitmaker Donovan Germain on his Penthouse label, an important producer and record label in modern reggae and dancehall. Jamaican vinyl had dried up by this point, but this single got pressed in 2013 for the European market. It's one of maybe a half dozen songs Germain cut on same rhythm, Fire & Ice (named for the song Beres Hammond voiced on the track). The B side is an instrumental version with nice drum work and a good mix from Shane Brown.
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Tracklist
A Minimum Wage
B Fire & Ice Version
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Fight for $15 in FLAC (download zip file): HERE
Bossman, him a take man fi a fool in MP3 (stream or download): HERE
Chicago's minimum wage is officially over $15 now, more than double the federal (and it's still too damn low). What's really amazing about it to me though is that this became a reality directly thanks to fast food workers and others striking. They walked out with an audacious demand for better pay thay is now giving tens of thousands of people a raise. I was tempted to post some pretty angry songs a few days ago reacting to the news, the Supreme Court rolling back women's rights and other dark developments, but I'm glad I held off. Can't hide from the realities of what we're up against, but we need to celebrate our victories too! There aren't enough stories (or songs) about our side winning.
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