Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Ini Kamoze - Contributed
"My girl no carry 50 grand purse with 40 cent in
My girl no shine no eye fe no guy fi no rent a rim."
Ini Kamoze chuckles as he remembers how My Girl, his latest single, came about.
"We did a drive one a dem day ya wid a girl. De girl have one a dem Louis Vuitton bag weh inna store fi US$1,000, US$1,500. De bag drop inna de ride an' a pure change comeout. Every man lay dung inna dem seat a laugh. She vex till she all come out," Kamoze said.
And that change was Jamaican. "It jus' show up de mentality, weh de impression we need to mek more important dan anyting else," Kamoze said.
Selection of girls
In the song, recorded about a week after the handbag spill, Kamoze expands on the incident and further describes the kind of girl he does not like ("my girl no have six kids fi bout seven rusty dude/my girl no come pon site a hype fe baby food") but "we use de opportunity same time fe talk bout our kin' a girl, de good girl. Is a balance we a keep widdin de ting".
So 'my girl' will "talk to me with respect, listen me with honour" and, if required "she will carry my heatseeker, undercover", the accompanying video done by Tony 'Teerob' Robinson showing a blurred object being transferred to a purse.
"My kinda girl wi do dat. She cover all angle, but she no giddy an inna de ray ray ting," Kamoze said.
Commitment to rockers sound
Nor is he, the thunderous bass and rattling percussions inside the studio at Harmony House a firm commitment to his distinctive rockers sound. And the painstaking process of laying the vocals to Rasta Nation ("always appreciating Jah/none shall be above in Jah") shows his commitment to the creative process. "Any day we no love dis no more, we stop do it," Kamoze tells The Gleaner.
My Girl and Rasta Nation are part of the 51/50 Rule album, due out by September. Among the other songs are Jailhouse, Red Outta Road, Gangsters Roll (on which there is the possibility of a combination with a rapper), Life is Good, We Be Jockey (which is definitely not about Caymanas Park-related matters), Whole Nine Yards (a combination with Kris Kelly) and Who Want War.
The last is not a commentary on any particular conflict, as 'we jus' a sey if a dat a yu focus, if yu a look fi dat, a dat yu a go get".
The album does not have a titletrack, but refers to a particular law. "Yu have some rule weh a man can point yu out as a madman an dem can pick yu up. We spen nuff time inna California. Is one a de statute. It easy fe anyone sey anyting an' it become your reality without anyone know yu or know weh a gwaan or take de time fe know yu," Kamoze said.
51/50 Rule is being done by Kamoze's own 9SoundClick outfit, which he describes as "some fresh yute inna de ting". Salaam Remi, who worked on the standout Hotstepper, is still "part of the programme".
Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2005 was a rare showing in Jamaica for Kamoze and "Sumfest is a show we love," he says, "We did stop our ting at some point. We neva like how it set up. One time we all turn roun' an a cameraman almos' lick me."
In terms of performing in Jamaica, though, he says "we no too often. A how it structure. We no expec' fi deh pon a stage a compete wid Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel." However, he points out that "we always a go outta grass", naming Guam, Russia and Lebanon among his stops. "Dat we love, when we a do some outta de way ting," Kamoze said. In addition "we did inna Europe weh day, a do de couple city ting".
"Yu wi all do some tune a Jamaica an is a struggle fi de tune play. We know we have a big music base outside. We look fe de support desso," Ini Kamoze said.
"Nuff a de time yu call de ting fas' food music. Is for the moment, it temporary. We could not get used to that part a de ting. When we a do a song is like when one a dem man yu would call a master do a painting. It indelible. Fifty years later it suppose to ever fresh, evergreen," Ini Kamoze said.
"We no mek oldies music."
