Janice 'Lady G' Fyffe Janet Silvera, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Janice 'Lady G' Fyffe has stood the test of time: From her teenage days of deejaying in the dance hall to having to walk home many nights without bus fare to one of Jamaica's most respected and successful female artiste who has never resorted to slack lyrics.
"I have paid my dues. There were nights I had to go home without pay, several times I had to stay until 6:00 a.m. when the set pack up, but these are dues one has to pay for success", she told Showbiz.
Today she is one of the few female artistes left of the dying breed. Many aspiring female deejays have fallen by the wayside and a lot have become fed up and given up the music, but Lady G has travelled the long road to prosperity. Her milestone achievement took a lot of determination and endurance on her part.
"I have never allowed any stumbling blocks to stand in my way," she said.
When she entered the dancehall arena she had to compete with the likes of Lady Mackerel, Junie Ranks, Lady Junie, Sister Charmaine and Shelly Thunder.
Fortunately for her, she cannot remember experiencing some of the horror stories related by a number of female artistes. History speaks of female artistes who have been subjected to some of the worst treatments meted out by some producers, "but one can survive if one knows how to live", she told Showbiz.
"A woman can get caught up in the system if she is not sensible. I wore mainly baggy pants and boy caps, looking more like a tomboy when going to the studios, nothing too sexy to cause any distraction," she told Showbiz.
Lady Saw, one of her counterparts, is said to have worn pants with a rag in her pocket to the recording studio on many occasions so as not to send the wrong message.
And even though she has not been through the harassment other female artistes have been through, she is aware of their plight, "I worry about them, more women need to go into producing in order to help other female artistes."
Lady G's longevity has earned her a series of top awards, with some years seeing her getting two and three merits to her name.
The late 1980s to early 1990s were the most impressive years of her illustrious career. Four years in a row she dominated the Best Female DJ award. And as if that was not enough, after a short absence from the scene she returned to receive the coveted Jamaica Federation of Musicians Best Female Performer and Best DJ awards in 1994 and 1998 respectively.
Her hits include the former dancehall anthem, Breeze Off, the combination with Papa San, Round Table Talk, Nuff Respect and Legal Rights, all of which have entered the Top 10 charts at very comfortable positions.
When the former Dunoon Technical High School student entered the music scene 15 years ago, her first stint was on Black Scorpio Sound System.
"Black Scorpio had to ask my mother's permission, before I could go to dance with the set", she said.
By the time she stopped working on Black Scorpio she had already made her name. "From there on it was not difficult for me; I just had to stay focused", Lady G said.
The mother of three recently released her latest song, Mama Woh on the Boot Camp label. The song, which has been getting a lot of airplay, basically deals with women having a better knowledge these days of what men want. "So don't try to trick wi up because we are not gonna buy their dreams," she sings in one line.
When Showbiz enquired if the song had anything to do with her life's experience, she laughed in response, saying "This a regular thing that happens to most women. You must get tricked somewhere down the line, because there are men who are wolves in sheep clothing."
