Contributed
Mr. GallimoreLeighton Williams, Staff Reporter
At least 13 times.
That was how often upcoming gospel deejay Mr. Gallimore mentioned the name of producer Danny Brownie during a recent interview.
A member of the gospel producing Main Street Crew, Mr. Gallimore has so far released eight singles and hopes to do an album soon. However, Danny Brownie is still awaiting word from the Lord with regards to the deejay.
"Danny, Mr. Brownie, is more than a producer to me. He is like a father, a counsellor. Some of the times I can share my problems with Danny and he encourages me. He's just humble," the 20-year-old deejay who grew up in Rema said.
Since his conversion to Christianity, Danny Brownie relaunched his label into a gospel producing entity, recruiting Junior Tucker, Chevelle Franklyn and Mr. Goddy Goddy (once Snakeman), all formerly secular acts. Later Prodigal Son, Moses and Kemar Gallimore, better known as 'Mr. Gallimore', became a part of Main Street.
The gospel artiste said calls for him to minister overseas have been growing. However, Danny Brownie has opted to wait for the right time. "We've gotten a lot of calls but Danny has held it back. He's waiting until the time is right. He wants us to have a strong presence when we go there," Mr. Gallimore said.
For the youth who grew up in Rema, serving God is the best decision he has ever made. While the going has been rough, he prefers no other lifestyle, especially not the lure of violence was always around him while he was in Rema.
Mr. Gallimore said that on more than one occasion the violence had stopped him from attending school and prevented him from finishing his secondary education. In all of this, he still managed to shun violence and tried to lead a normal life.
He recalled that he had started to embrace Rastafarianism shortly before he became a Christian, but the Lord intervened. "A friend invited me to the Bible class but I didn't want to go because I believed in Selassie I. However, he convinced me to come along. When I went there I was double-minded but I put up my hand for prayer when the preacher asked who wanted to get saved," he said.
Mr. Gallimore added that shortly after he had his new birth experience.
Still, Mr. Gallimore had always deejayed as a hobby. He recalls missing classes and clashing lyrically with his Main Street stablemate Moses at Denham Town Comprehensive High School. He recalled that shortly after his conversion he, along with his close friend Moses, visited the Church on the Rock Youth programme where they got a chance to sing alongside Ziggy Soul. Shortly after, Mr. Gallimore and Moses got together to form KGs, a name based on their initials. Mr. Gallimore said he saw a story in the paper about Danny Brownie being converted to Christianity and wanted hardcore deejays. Shortly after Andrew Nelson, his Bible school teacher, told the duo that Danny Brownie wanted to meet them.
"I saw a lot of secular acts there and as a young entertainer at the studio you do not always get your chance. When we came we went right in and Danny took us and listened to us. But the sound he was looking for it wasn't there. He was used to professionals, so we were like mediocre to him," he explained.
"However, he saw potential in us and he gave us a rhythm and we came back, but it still wasn't up to scratch. We spent some time with Danny in the studio, where our talents started to grow. Sometimes while we were there, we used to have Bible study with Danny," Mr. Gallimore said.
Still, he was given the opportunity to 'voice' on the Yow! Street Gospel Volume I album, which was released last year.
The deejay, who has five siblings, has had one very memorable moment since he has been on the road ministering but it is not what you would expect.
"My most memorable concert was one in May Pen. At that time hardcore deejaying was pretty new. At that time the 'Street Sweeper' was coming in and it was the hottest thing. We got on the stage and started deejaying and people started booing us. It was embarrassing and it is the most memorable moment, because it left a mark on my mind," he said.
