Two decades later, Sizzla’s ‘Rise to the Occasion’ is still inspiring
Published:Sunday | October 19, 2025 | 12:08 AMYasmine Peru - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Rise to the Occasion, Sizzla’s 18th studio album, was released on September 30, 2003. Twenty-two years later, Rise to the Occasion is the theme of the reggae and dancehall legend’s 30 years in music celebration event.
Today, Sizzla Kalonji and his musical friends, including Bounty Killer, Nadine Sutherland, Anthony B, Spragga Benz, Bushman, Jesse Royal, T’Jean, I-Wayne, Turbulence, Christopher Martin, Teflon, Warrior King, Lutan Fyah, Tarrus Riley, Ninja Kid, and Iba Mahr, will rise to the occasion at a mega concert at Sabina Park in Kingston.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Sizzla recalls the making of Rise to the Occasion, a song produced by super producer, Don Corleon, on the Long Time riddim, also known as the Rise to the Occasion riddim.
Many fans testify that it has been the inspiration they needed at a crucial point in their lives.
1. Rise to the Occasion, the name of the event, is taken from your anthem of the same name. Two decades after it was released, the song remains powerful. What was the process of breathing life into ‘Rise to the Occasion’?
The process was to always make songs to elevate, uplift, inspire and motivate the people of the suffering [masses], those who have been marginalised because of their super excellency in all what they do. Music is fun, therefore our duty as musicians and artistes will best reflect its result when the fans can positively relate to the songs we’ve written to some point or personal experience or vision they’ve experienced in their lives.
2. Did you have the lyrics written down in your lyric book, waiting for the right time, or did they just flow once you started singing?
Sometimes I write down the lyrics as the principled process in remembering the song, but most often I would just listen to the riddim and get a feel of its composition. Depending on my mood or my current thought of anything or what I decide to be the topic of the works, I’ll start rhyming with such vibration to gain the intelligence of thought to construct a sentence or the first metric line of a song.
3. How did you and Don Corleon get to work together on this song, and how did the ‘riddim’ and the lyrics combine seamlessly?
Jazzy T was the first person who brought Don Corleon to me in August Town. Jazzy T had asked me to do some dub plates for the Renaissance Disco. That was before he started working out of Blake’s studio in Mona. It was way after he was settled at the Kingston studio in Mona, doing his thing, that I came up with the song, Rise to the Occasion. He was a very brilliant young man who was just starting in the music. Another great and prominent person was Blacks, who has passed. I called him Bad Blacks or Cripple Blacks. Blacks would sit in his wheelchair and make tons of riddims at Wellington Drive at his home studio. I kept the link right between that circle real close. From in the day, to the night, we would do road, from Don studio to Blacks’ home studio. So all within that timeline and vibration, all those songs started coming out. RIP Blacks.
4. Did you like the riddim the first time you heard it?
It wasn’t in the sense of me liking the rhythm or not, but how much can I make this riddim hit with a number-one song on it? A big problem for me is an empty riddim without my voice on it.
5. Where was the song recorded, and what inspired you to use your falsetto?
The song was recorded at the Kingston Studio ... Mr Blake’s studio in Mona.
My falsetto is loved by a lot of fans, and therefore I gave a mixture of it and being a little sonorous. It’s also a way to maintain clear vocals.
6. Were you all aware of the power of the song that you were creating, and would you say that ‘Rise to the Occasion’ is the soundtrack of your life?
Yes, we were also struck by the frequency, high vibration and the message of this song. Yes, Rise to the Occasion is one of the soundtracks of my life.
7. What are your top five favourite songs from your own catalogue?
1. Thank You Mama
2. Mountains About Jerusalem
3. Holding Firm
4. Solid as a Rock
5. Praise ye Jah.