For their second album Secret Masters (Pieter Bourke & Donnie Dub) decided it was time to go the source, Jamaica, in search of fresh vocal talent. Recorded and voiced in Melbourne and Jamaica, Words, Power, Sound features a global array of vocalists; Tippa Irie and Natty Wailer (UK), Kulcha Knox, Mad Doggy Dog, Shanti Reb-lah (Jamaica), Kylie Auldist and Banny Wallace (Aust). Dub maestro Mad Professor (UK) also guests with a unique dub remix of the track Black Culture.

The album title comes from the song whose lyrics were penned by Jamaican toaster (mc) Kulcha Knox. Kulcha is the son of well known Jamaican DJ Jeff Dixon (JBC radio) who was killed in 1987 along with Peter Tosh when gunmen entered Tosh’s home to rob it. This powerful track is a homage to the Nyabingi of Jamaica - a hardcore offshoot of Rastafari.

Hooking up with local Jamaican singers proved to be fairly straight forward. ‘Nearly everyone can chat the mic and there were lots of on the spot auditions’, Donnie recalls. ‘There were dreads dropping by to big up the Aussie producer and try to get some time on the mic.’ Recording sessions were arranged in Montego Bay and Kingston, and these yielded four songs, More Weed, Hot In The Club, Rastaman Chant and Words, Power & Sound.

Tippa Irie was invited to the Secret Masters studio while on tour in Melbourne, and delivered two solid vocal performances on What If? and Black Culture, a song about racism. Tippa has produced fifteen albums to date and has a string of number one hit songs to his credit including Hey Mama with the Black Eyed Peas. Tippa Irie was part of the new generation of British MC's who developed the 'Fast Talking' style chat which can be heard in modern rappers like Busta Rhymes. To this day, Tippa Irie remains one of the most requested Reggae entertainers internationally.

UK legend Mad Professor came on board after hearing Black Culture, claiming it is ‘one of the best tunes that Tippa Irie has done in recent years.’ Responsible for the biggest selling dub album of all time, Massive Attack’s No Protection, Mad Professor reworked the tune in his unique style.

Australian queen of soul Kylie Auldist returned to the Secret Masters’ studio to provide two beautiful new vocals. Kylie covers the classic Jacob Miller/Augustus Pablo tune Baby I Love You So in fine style and also penned an original track called Touch The Sky. Once again Kylie‘s warm but powerful voice provides the most intimate moment on the album.