Post by check on Aug 27, 2005 12:42:47 GMT 1
Few stripes for Zebra
By CLAUDE MILLS, STAR Writer
www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/.../ent/ent1.html
For the first time deejay Zebra, currently serving his second sentence for rape, speaks from the St. Catherine District Prison. Today he speaks about his abandonment by the deejay fraternity and the love of his father, as well as the influence of Marcus Garvey.
'ZEBRA' HAS BECOME a name vilified in dancehall circles and as his five-year incarceration drags on, he has become the man that dancehall artistes love to hate. However, dancehall fans still remember him as a jovial character who could buss any stage show with the slurred, drunken voice he 'borrowed' from ace deejay Tiger.
When the interviewer meets Zebra in the office of Superintendent Sylvester Lindo, who is in charge of the St. Catherine District Prison, he sees a man who radiates an unmistakable joy, fresh-faced and smiling. His imprisonment has not broken him. He is dressed in white - white jeans, white sneakers, cream shirt, with a badge of Haile Selassie and his empress on the left side of his chest, and a white turban with a badge with the image of Marcus Garvey directly over his forehead.
He has a little notebook with an orange cover in his right hand, which is heavy with a three-tiered (the Trinity, he explains) gold chaparita and two rings. His left hand has a Rasta sweatband, as well as red-green-and-gold bracelets and bead chains. He has also allowed his beard to grow.
How have you been coping in prison, THE STAR asks?
"In prison, you have to hold up yourself in a way so you can hold up others. In here it is strictly a survival ting; ah just tribulation and segregation today, ah just the grateful vs. the ungrateful. Yu may be grateful to a man today, but tomorrow him same one could be yu killer. Ah prison dat," Zebra says.
Since his incarceration in March 2000, no entertainers have tried to visit him or given support in anyway. For Zebra, it has been a lonely trod, except for visits from close friends and his father, singer Dennis Walks.
"Right now ah just Dennis Walks mi give the honour. Mi no really see nobody more than so, but mi have to big up Elizabeth Hemmings and Wissian Wisdom, dem two empress de nuh lef me out."
Are you disappointed that no other entertainers have come to offer support?
"No, not really. The whole ah we inna one fraternity, yes, but we nuh look out for each other. We not close; we just share a stage from time to time. There is no glory, no love, no unity with the self and the crowd for most of them. They are pretenders, but it is good to be natural and real."
"Yu see the two year dem when I run the road, from 1998 to 1999, dem grow fi dislike me because I was dem worst nightmare because of how the people did embrace me. When me go stage show dem waan hurry up and work, because after I done work the show done. The ones on top doan waan to see no one else rise, but I live for the music. I am the music, the music is me," he said.
Hits
Zebra is a far way from the dizzy days of stardom. He first showed up on the dancehall radar when he teamed up with Prince Jazbo to render Wha Yu Run Fah? in 1990. He followed up with Wha Yu Bow Fah?, but soon caught the attention of Tiger and a rivalry of sorts developed between the two because of the songs.
Then he served several years in prison on a rape charge, before returning to the business in 1998, only to be imprisoned two years later on an additional rape charge.
It had been a giddy rollercoaster ride'.
Marcus Garvey
Zebra has used his time in prison to read the works of Marcus Garvey, Jamaica's first National Hero, extensively and to hone his lyrical skills.
"Music, ah dat hold me up. It mi use and rehab myself. Mi no really entangle with no other form of work or other rehab programme. Mi write continually about the present and the past, but no negative rhyme, dem can play all a Sunday time. The rhymes dem tight up, well write up," he said, breaking out into a short deejay verse.
He said that his days are consumed by music. He is a part of the Rehabilitation Through Music programme and often practises with a band called Cry Freedom, along with other inmates such as Bobo, Marksman, Cry Freedom, Red Ray, Chronic, Elvis, and Leminotep.
He says that he has been approached by many producers to record songs, but because there is no studio at the St. Catherine District Prison that has not become a reality.
"A lot of real big man come here and dem feel my energy and when dem leave dem invite me to come check dem when mi come a road. Some even want mi to voice from inside here. But the chance not possible to do it from here, because there is no studio, but I get so much use and refuse I have to be wise to what I am doing now," he said.
He said that he has not been earning any royalties from Rupert, Hype Type A Love, Gal Waan Mi Picture Fi Frame and Redder Than Red, done from 1998-1999.
"Mi neva try to ask dem for royalty, mi just love the music. I survive on the blessings of I and I family, who tek care of my children, and right now mi ah live by the grace of Jah, by His love and support. Mi family dem a live joyful, my presence as a father is missed and since I and I come in here mi empress dem, have a few yutes. Yu know yu get caught up and dem born while I am in here. I cannot see dem 'cause dem don't allow no children in prison."
By CLAUDE MILLS, STAR Writer
www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/.../ent/ent1.html
For the first time deejay Zebra, currently serving his second sentence for rape, speaks from the St. Catherine District Prison. Today he speaks about his abandonment by the deejay fraternity and the love of his father, as well as the influence of Marcus Garvey.
'ZEBRA' HAS BECOME a name vilified in dancehall circles and as his five-year incarceration drags on, he has become the man that dancehall artistes love to hate. However, dancehall fans still remember him as a jovial character who could buss any stage show with the slurred, drunken voice he 'borrowed' from ace deejay Tiger.
When the interviewer meets Zebra in the office of Superintendent Sylvester Lindo, who is in charge of the St. Catherine District Prison, he sees a man who radiates an unmistakable joy, fresh-faced and smiling. His imprisonment has not broken him. He is dressed in white - white jeans, white sneakers, cream shirt, with a badge of Haile Selassie and his empress on the left side of his chest, and a white turban with a badge with the image of Marcus Garvey directly over his forehead.
He has a little notebook with an orange cover in his right hand, which is heavy with a three-tiered (the Trinity, he explains) gold chaparita and two rings. His left hand has a Rasta sweatband, as well as red-green-and-gold bracelets and bead chains. He has also allowed his beard to grow.
How have you been coping in prison, THE STAR asks?
"In prison, you have to hold up yourself in a way so you can hold up others. In here it is strictly a survival ting; ah just tribulation and segregation today, ah just the grateful vs. the ungrateful. Yu may be grateful to a man today, but tomorrow him same one could be yu killer. Ah prison dat," Zebra says.
Since his incarceration in March 2000, no entertainers have tried to visit him or given support in anyway. For Zebra, it has been a lonely trod, except for visits from close friends and his father, singer Dennis Walks.
"Right now ah just Dennis Walks mi give the honour. Mi no really see nobody more than so, but mi have to big up Elizabeth Hemmings and Wissian Wisdom, dem two empress de nuh lef me out."
Are you disappointed that no other entertainers have come to offer support?
"No, not really. The whole ah we inna one fraternity, yes, but we nuh look out for each other. We not close; we just share a stage from time to time. There is no glory, no love, no unity with the self and the crowd for most of them. They are pretenders, but it is good to be natural and real."
"Yu see the two year dem when I run the road, from 1998 to 1999, dem grow fi dislike me because I was dem worst nightmare because of how the people did embrace me. When me go stage show dem waan hurry up and work, because after I done work the show done. The ones on top doan waan to see no one else rise, but I live for the music. I am the music, the music is me," he said.
Hits
Zebra is a far way from the dizzy days of stardom. He first showed up on the dancehall radar when he teamed up with Prince Jazbo to render Wha Yu Run Fah? in 1990. He followed up with Wha Yu Bow Fah?, but soon caught the attention of Tiger and a rivalry of sorts developed between the two because of the songs.
Then he served several years in prison on a rape charge, before returning to the business in 1998, only to be imprisoned two years later on an additional rape charge.
It had been a giddy rollercoaster ride'.
Marcus Garvey
Zebra has used his time in prison to read the works of Marcus Garvey, Jamaica's first National Hero, extensively and to hone his lyrical skills.
"Music, ah dat hold me up. It mi use and rehab myself. Mi no really entangle with no other form of work or other rehab programme. Mi write continually about the present and the past, but no negative rhyme, dem can play all a Sunday time. The rhymes dem tight up, well write up," he said, breaking out into a short deejay verse.
He said that his days are consumed by music. He is a part of the Rehabilitation Through Music programme and often practises with a band called Cry Freedom, along with other inmates such as Bobo, Marksman, Cry Freedom, Red Ray, Chronic, Elvis, and Leminotep.
He says that he has been approached by many producers to record songs, but because there is no studio at the St. Catherine District Prison that has not become a reality.
"A lot of real big man come here and dem feel my energy and when dem leave dem invite me to come check dem when mi come a road. Some even want mi to voice from inside here. But the chance not possible to do it from here, because there is no studio, but I get so much use and refuse I have to be wise to what I am doing now," he said.
He said that he has not been earning any royalties from Rupert, Hype Type A Love, Gal Waan Mi Picture Fi Frame and Redder Than Red, done from 1998-1999.
"Mi neva try to ask dem for royalty, mi just love the music. I survive on the blessings of I and I family, who tek care of my children, and right now mi ah live by the grace of Jah, by His love and support. Mi family dem a live joyful, my presence as a father is missed and since I and I come in here mi empress dem, have a few yutes. Yu know yu get caught up and dem born while I am in here. I cannot see dem 'cause dem don't allow no children in prison."
about Zebra? Ne verkrachter die denkt dat em kan zingen?!