Jan. 27, 2007 — Reggae greats Lucky Dube and Tanya Stephens played Foxy's in the British Virgin Islands through Tri-Storm Entertainment, but the reach of the St. Thomas company extends far beyond Caribbean concerts: An English singer on Tri-Storm Records recently hit No. 1 in America.
"Submerge" by M-Tina, a slinky, sexy song that crosses musical boundaries, peaked at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B-Hip-Hop Singles chart, and currently remains at No. 13 after 14 weeks.
"From the time the Tri-Storm marketing team got into action to the time we hit No. 1 was so quick we were all surprised," says 21-year-old Martina "M-Tina" John, who lives in Gorton near Manchester, England, but has grandparents on St. Thomas. "Since the news, I have been doing a lot of magazines, photo shoots, national newspapers and TV interviews out here in the U.K. People have been asking me for autographs and where and when they can buy the CD.
"It's crazy — they told us that no U.K artist has hit No. 1 in any of the Billboard charts for 20 years."
The record debuted at No. 3 and climbed fast, also rising to No. 7 on Billboard's primary Hot 100 Singles chart. For Paul Dow, Tri-Storm's chief information officer and a man better known as Gatewayy, a dream came true as he watched the record hit.
"Having an artist debut on Billboard is a very significant achievement — especially coming from the Virgin Islands," says Dow, 31. "That has meant a lot to us."
For Dow and the other people at Tri-Storm, M-Tina's success caps a decade of hard work promoting music from their base in Anna's Retreat. The Tri-Storm story began when Dow and his cousin, Cecil "Topaz" Nibbs Jr., a performer since childhood, started working together in 1997. In the years since, they have built up a substantial stable of artists ranging from England to the West Coast.
"We came to the conclusion that we wanted the same things," Dow says. "We wanted to make history. Doing music in St. Thomas for us has not just been like a dream — it's been about fulfilling what we were meant to do."
The company has achieved success by branching out in multiple directions. In addition to promoting concerts and running a record label, Tri-Storm also produced the "Stormfront" radio show that aired on 105 JAMZ for two and a half years.
"What led to the show was a single that we had let out — a song called 'Blades,'" Dow says. "It was the No. 1 requested song in the Caribbean."
Tri-Storm's first major project came with the development of a group called the Shadow Masters in 1997, which recorded an update of the classic Bill Withers song "Ain't No Sunshine" and signed a major-label recording contract with Polygram-London. "That was a developmental thing as well," Dow says.
Tri-Storm keeps mix CDs in regular circulation in the territory, including a current release called The Uncut. It features several Tri-Storm artists, along with hip-hop stars like Method Man from Wu-Tang Clan and Louieville Sluggah from the Brooklyn rap group Boot Camp Clik, who have both collaborated with Tri-Storm rapper Snake IIz ("eyes").
"We're basically a young multimedia company," Dow says. "We're trying to make the Caribbean a staple in the music industry."
Other prominent Tri-Storm artists include Lincoln Ward, Valor and Jermaine, another R&B artist from the Manchester area who helped write "Submerge" for M-Tina. Tri-Storm has landed spots for its artists on several soundtracks, including a song by Maurice, also known as Mista Mo, in the 2005 movie "Derailed," featuring Jennifer Aniston. Based in Southern California, Maurice has opened in Las Vegas for Chico DeBarge and sung the national anthem at an L.A. Clippers basketball game.
Madd Linkz, host of "Rap City" on BET, came to the territory for a party organized by Tri-Storm. The company also organized two parties on St. Thomas hosted by Sway, the hip-hop correspondent for MTV News.
In fact, M-Tina hooked up with Tri-Storm when her mother happened to meet Sway on a visit to St. Thomas. She gave the MTV personality a copy of some tracks recorded in a bedroom by M-Tina and her boyfriend and producer, Scott "WHITE N3RD" Graham. Topaz liked what he heard.
"A few weeks later he called me and said he really loved the stuff and asked if we wanted to be on his label," M-Tina says. "A few months later, after constant talks and correspondence, me and my boyfriend-producer traveled out to St. Thomas to meet him and get the ball rollin'. That was the start of 2005. Two years later here we are!"
While Dow believes he has found his calling, he cast about for awhile before settling in with Tri-Storm. "I'm trained in computers," he says. "It's very weird. I'm a network administrator. I never really could find my niche — I spent a lot of years trying to find that thing I really wanted. But I always loved music; I always wanted to get into that. And I always had the connections through my family to the music industry."
Born in Puerto Rico, Dow grew up on St. Thomas and St. Croix, also living in Connecticut from ages 9 through 12. He moved back to the territory in time for high school, attending St. Croix Country Day and St. Joseph's. Dow now divides his time between St. Thomas and the mainland. He recently set up operations in the Philadelphia-southern New Jersey area, but he doesn't plan to stay there long. "Island boys are not meant to be in cold weather," Dow says. "I'm looking to move soon."
To sample music from various Tri-Storm artists, click here.
The next big step for Tri-Storm? Producing a video for M-Tina and preparing her second single for release.
"Well the video comes next, which we will be shooting at the start of February over in the States," she says. "Then the second single is ready to drop straight after. My goal is really to be the first R&B singer from the U.K to break the U.S and to do a worldwide tour."
Here's what they're saying about M-Tina back home in England:
— From a "Best of Manchester 2006" page on the BBC's website: "M-Tina: Practically unknown here, a chance holiday meeting between her mum and MTV’s Sway in the U.S. led nursing assistant Martina John to land herself as M-Tina into the top ten of the Billboard charts, out-selling Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Pussycat Dolls along the way."
— From the South Manchester Reporter, Nov. 16: "A NURSING assistant is on her way to becoming a global R&B superstar. Martina John, 22, who up until a year ago worked in a mental health unit in Levenshulme, has seen her debut single rise to number seven in the US Billboard chart. Performing under the name M-Tina, Martina is taking the States by storm, alongside her producer, boyfriend Scott Graham, and this week out-sold Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Pussycat Dolls. The release of the single, 'Submerge,' resulted from a chance meeting between her mum Georgina John and MTV presenter Sway while she was holidaying in the Virgin Islands."
— From the Independent, Nov. 10: "Martina John, a nursing home assistant whose only taste of the big time had been her gospel choir's tour of Germany, had no great hopes of stardom when she recorded some music with friends in her bedroom in south Manchester, a few years ago."
— From the Guardian Unlimited, Nov. 9: "No one really knows the magical combination that results in a Brit making it big in the U.S. but remaining unknown over here. Perhaps it's something to do with dentistry. Though that wouldn't explain why Radiohead made it in America first. Perhaps it's to do with banal MOR melodies — which would explain Bush, but not M-Tina, the singer who's No 2 in the U.S. R&B chart and coming straight outta Gorton.
"M-Tina, real name Martina John, recorded her single 'Submerge' in a bedroom in Sale (why is it always a bedroom? Does musical creativity not flow as well in the kitchen?). With her boyfriend Scott — street name White N3RD — on production, it was destined for U.K. obscurity. But then Martina's family went on holiday in the U.S., bumped into a producer, played him the track, persuaded him to act on their behalf, got a record deal and found their song selling more copies than the Pussycat Dolls (for that relief, much thanks)."
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