Vol. 2 \"Skagga Yo!\" - The second Messer Banzani album from 1992. After establishing themselves as the top live act of their hometown Leipzig and playing shows all over Europe further goals had to be set. As much as the ongoing second European Ska wave helped them in the beginning to gain a wider recognition and exposure it became obvious quickly that it as well restricted their musical creativity. They never saw themselves as just a pure Ska band, but rather an outlet that wanted to create and record good songs just like their musical role models MADNESS.
Since the Ska scene at the time was very strict about it’s codes and musical content, the decision was made to make their different approach very clear with the coice of the album title already: „SKAGGA YO!“ stands for a combination of the Jamaican off beat style SKA, Ra-GGA for the Dancehall and YO! for the Hip Hop influences on the group. The handmade analogue Ska sound was upgraded with beats of TOMs just bought first drum machine and in the studio a sampler was used to „fly een“ sound bits and musical references. On top short skits introduced certain songs.
„Peace is wonder“ - the ultimate live hit from day one - was now recorded and made the signature track of the album. It had it all, the patois style vocals, a digital Hip Hop Reggae beat and a rap that featured New York hardcore rapper MC SHANK. The icing on the cross over cake was a stunning Metal solo by colleague JOEY A. VAISING - Leipzig’s ultimate guitarist.
The before unheard combination of various contemporary club music styles earned MESSER BANZANI not only their first Summer Jam performance in 1993 but as well the support spot of the „Reggae Super Jam“ Tour of the same year, opening for SUGAR MINOTT, MUTABARUKA and JUNIOR REID. The tour - organized by Contour from Stuttgart - also for the first time brought top Jamaican entertainers to the former GDR with five tour stops in East Germany. A first circle was closed. On the tour PIONEAR also developed a friendship to DEAN FRASER who would soon become his mentor, but this is another chapter of the anthology, to be opened very soon.
