Leftside to Di Worl'

As a child, Craig ‘Leftside’ Parks accompanied his father, famous bass player, Lloyd Parks to his ‘We the People’ band rehearsals. There he witnessed firsthand musical productions from some of Jamaica’s greatest musical icons including Dennis Brown, Yellow Man, and Ninja Man. So, it came as no surprise that Leftside later became involved in music.

As a young drummer and member of his father’s band, he travelled to the United States, Brazil, and the Caribbean. Around the same time, he was a disc jockey stirring up mixes on the turntables at parties for local sound system, Syndicate.

Soon after, the deejay/drummer upped his resume when he decided to pursue musical production. Some of the popular record labels he has worked with are: Kings of Kings, Don Corleon, and King Jammy’s. He was instrumental in the production of a number of albums for popular reggae icon, Sizzla, and Elephant Man’s 2003 popular hit “Pon Di River”, which climbed its way to BET’s 106 & Park Countdown.

Given all that he had done before, it seemed inevitable that Leftside would start making music of his own. He started out by writing his own songs. Then he became a member of the popular duo Leftside and Esco, their first hit being “Tuck in yuh belly”. Prompted by his innate ingenuity, Leftside devised the alter ego, Dr. Evil, which released hits like “My Name is Dr. Evil”, “More Punany”, “No STD”, and “Shake It”. 

Presently, his record label, Keep Left Records is among his many accomplishments. Leftside prides himself on nurturing young talents and urges fans to look for his new protégé, Kev, who will be releasing his first single very soon. He has also worked with the likes of Sanjay, Shaggy, Konshens, and Sean Paul. Having toured extensively for the past year, Leftside is now delighting in his success. He has travelled to and performed in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Portugal, France, Belize, Suriname and French Guiana. 

Leftside attributes this new elevation in his career to his single, ‘Supermodel Chick’, which was number 10 on the MTV Black Charts in Germany. It is not his first time on the charts however, prior to this, the “Want Yuh Body” remix featuring Sean Paul, had made the number 4 spot on the MTV Black Charts, and number 5 on the Club Charts. Emphasizing the ease with which Europeans accept Jamaican music and the way they have embraced his work he said, “The commercial side of Europe is really important because when I put any song out it starts playing in the club in less than one week. 

Right now the song that just pick up over there is Clap Dat. The song features Konshens and happens to be one of the best songs in my show set.” Leftside’s new productions include the riddim entitled “Run Wid It” which features Tappa-T, Sanjay, I-Octane and Assassin just to name a few; his new song “Monkey Biznizz” which is getting massive radio play in Jamaica and worldwide; and his anticipated mixtape, “Rebirth”, of which he said, “This will have a lot of singing and it is strictly for the ladies.” At present, Leftside is doing what he does best, taking music ‘to di worl’ by kicking off his European tour today, August 2nd through the17th. After which, he will be heading to Australia and Japan.