Tanya C. Ellis, Gleaner Writer

Mcdonald

IN KEEPING with his desire to pursue his first love, Dr. Garth McDonald is dividing his time between medicine and music.

"Medicine will always be my priority, but I feel that I should explore the many aspects of who I am and what I love," he says.

Given the opportunity to choose again, Dr. McDonald, whose stage name is Shaka Pow, did not hesitate to say that he would pick medicine.

Shaka Pow, a name Dr. McDonald got at Kingston College, says he can only write, practise and record music during his spare time, which is usually late in the night after work or on his days off.

"I work tirelessly to balance both jobs, regardless of the fact that only one of those is financially profitable, for right now."

Lifelong dream

Far from his standard pulse-taking, pager-reading routine, he is pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming a musician.

"My aim is to take this to an international level without taking too much time away from my medical career."

He has been billed for international shows and performed locally at Sting in 1999.

The creative freedom that Shaka Pow gets from his self-promotion is such that it allows him flexibility to manage his time without heavy demands.

"I know that this might work against me to not have a publicist. This would certainly help my career and this is an area that I will seek to work on for 2008. The contemporary reggae artiste is confident that with the right selection of lyrics, success is guaranteed for him.

In 2001, Dr. McDonald's first album I Am the Doc was released while he was signed to Inner Beat Records.

"The album had all the elements that I sought for my music. It was varied in both style and lyrics, and ultimately sets the pace for the quality of music I would like to continue recording."

Riveting music

He takes everything in stride, but approaches all that he does with great enthusiasm and determination to succeed. The result is a riveting littering of mainstream Jamaican music from all genres of reggae music, but with an international flair. Ironically, one of his more popular songs was titled Old McDonald Has a Farm, Ye a Ye a O.

He also caught the attention of Vybz Kartel when he released the counteraction Long Before Phone in response to Kartel's Hello Moto in 2005.

He has since done collaborations with Heather Cummings, Junior Reid, Saba Tooth and Jah Mason. Shaka Pow asserts that he feels privileged to have been embraced by the local music community, and that makes the challenge of his new projects worthwhile, despite the unlikelihood of a medical doctor switching to a career as a dancehall star.

The self-effacing doctor, who is a gynaecologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies, was quite laid-back about his peculiar career combination, seeing it as just another creative option.

"I have never really been shy about defying expectations, pursuing music is about doing something that makes me happy."