Reggae pioneer Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals, believes that reggae artistes need to return to the message in the music. He is currently in the UK to promote his latest CD, True Love and told BBC Caribbean Radio that today's reggae has to return to its conscious roots. "It needs to come back to the message in the music," he said. "It needs to be more positive. It is called reggae because it has a message." He said that while dancehall performers like Sean Paul and Beenie Man are doing currently well with dancehall, he believes they will eventually return to roots reggae. True Love is a CD featuring 15 Toots and the Maytals classics that are performed with music stars from a variety of genres. Some of these include legends like Eric Clapton, Bootsy Collins and Bunny Wailer as well as younger stars like dancehall singer Shaggy and the group No Doubt. Many of the CD's tracks are recorded live, and Hibbert said he had a "lot of fun" collaborating with the other musicians. "It was something special, and it could be hard to come together but because of respect, true love and good song writing from me, everyone agreed they could work on my album. "It's like they were waiting to give a helping hand," he said. "It started with Bonnie Raitt, then all the rest of great guys came in. I'm their fan and they're my fans.” One of the songs on True Love, is 54-46 Was My Number, which Hibbert wrote about time he spent in prison for ganja possession. It later turned out that the charges were false, and even though that time holds some unpleasant memories, the song remains one of his favourites. "There are no bitter memories. The people who did it they felt more guilty because I'm not really guilty," he said. "It was stupid thing people did and they've been forgiven, but I still have to sing about it." The reggae icon, who is now in his late fifties, is credited with giving the genre its name in the 1969 hit Do The Reggay, a song which he said was never completed. "The music was playing, and it didn't have a natural name, people used to call it whatever they wanted," he said. "One day I was writing songs and the idea came to me and I just said, 'Let's do the reggay to try to get in a line'. "I didn't finish write that song, but we said we'd write it and record it as a dub, but people took it abroad and this was the song that put the awe in the music." Hibbert's tour to promote the CD has taken him to Europe, Japan and even down under to Australia and New Zealand. Although he has new songs under his belt, he has no plans for a new album as yet because he wants to enjoy the success of his current release. "We released these songs because they are gold, and it's not me saying it, the whole world said they are gold," he said. "I have new songs but I don't have to go in the studio all the time but we need to do what we are doing now because it's important for my career." SOURCE: BBCCARIBBEAN.COM