Ken Boothe in action - Ricardo Makyn

Veteran reggae artiste Ken Boothe is gearing up to release his self produced reggae/dancehall album called Journey.

Boothe is known for his soulful love songs, however, for this particular project, the veteran decided to give music lovers a little more.

Journey is also the title of the lead track from the album and Ken Boothe says that after 47 years as a professional recording artiste he is very grateful for his development.

"Journey is so relevant for the title of my album because after 47 years in the music it's like a celebration because I have been doing music from colonial days. I remember when I never used to have food in surplus because my parents couldn't afford it and when I got my first hit song, I split the money between myself and my baby mother and I bought my first pair of blue shoes and pants lengths out of music. Since then I haven't stopped," Ken Boothe said.

Boothe's last album was released more than seven years ago.

continuously on tours

However, the artiste said he has continuously been on tours performing mostly songs from his old catalogue.

Boothe is currently looking to create a new fan base as well as to update his musical catalogue.

"People have been asking me to record new songs and that is because I am form the 60s, so my intention is to show that I can do new material when the timing is right," Boothe said.

According to Boothe, this album will appeal to reggae and dancehall fans alike.

In an effort to accomplish his goal of tapping into the dancehall market, the artiste went as far as to record collaborations with veteran dancehall artiste Josey Wales and upcoming dancehall artiste G Mac.

"I have about five dancehall songs on the album. I am not fighting music ... time don't change but different generations of people make music. Some people are hooked to the 60s but I am not that type of person that fights the youth. We should join them and try to make their product better. Some time people dwell on the bad too much instead of focusing on the good," Boothe explained.

The album Journey will be launched in October and Boothe plans to embark on an extensive local and international tour to promote his new material. He also said all his new music will now reflect dancehall's influence.

adding dancehall

"Anything I do now I am going to add dancehall to it, but I am not going below my standards. Some people think that all dancehall is concerned with is cursing, but it doesn't have to be like that. Father call upon the youth because they are strong and we need to try and understand the change before we try to fight it," he continued.

"As an elder I'm just glad that I can contribute to the development of local music and I wouldn't mind if I could forever contribute to the development of youth," Boothe said.

Booth is also working on an R&B album to be released in 2013 under his Train Productions record label.

Journey is the first official Ken Boothe album under Train Productions and Boothe says it will be smooth sailing from here.

"I started my own label because I was born to do music. People want to put us in a 60s bracket like they don't have time for us so I made time to do my own production but I always welcome ideas from people around me and now its all a dream come true where Train Productions is concerned," he said.

The artiste revealed that the songs from the album have already begun to create a buzz.

Boothe recently shot a music video for the single Journey which can now be accessed on YouTube.com.