11 years to tell 'Untold Story'
published:
Sunday | August 10, 2008
Beenie Man (right) and writer Milton Wray pose with a copy of the book, 'Who Am I: The Untold Story of Beenie Man' at the launch, held at Devon House on Tuesday, July 8.- Nathaniel Stewart/Freelance Photographer
Milton Wray says he spent 11 years documenting and researching the scandals and untold past of the popular figure in the more than 400-page biography on Beenie Man. Having met the artiste on numerous occasions, Wray contacted Beenie Man in 1994 about doing the book.
According to Wray Beenie Man was very receptive to the process, doing extensive interviews and providing never before seen pictures. Wray took a sabbatical from Jamaican journalism to live and do research in New York City for more than a year.
"Beenie Man has a very fascinating story. His entire life is filled with drama from before he was born to recent times. He has not led an ordinary life.
Everything he does is extraordinary ... I knew his story would be action-packed and entertaining. People love him, he's appealing and endearing, there is a fierce public interest in his life," Wray said in an interview in The STAR.
journalistic appeal
The biography also held a journalistic appeal for him and he says that Beenie Man's story can inspire ghetto youths. The writer promised an unvarnished view of The Doctor, as while Beenie Man did cooperate for the novel he did not approve the manuscript and had not seen a page of the work prior to publication.
"The intention was not to put out a public relations piece for the artiste. The facts are presented as they occurred, whether or not Beenie Man likes those facts. He has led a very controversial life and he acknowledges that; he recently told me as much. I believe he is prepared for whatever revelations may come from this book," Wray says.
Hope
different perspectives
When The Sunday Gleaner spoke with the Inna De Dancehall author and UWI lecturer, Dr Donna Hope, she had not read Beenie Man's biography, but naturally has heard about it through the media. Hope said she was "glad to get some light shone on individuals in dancehall. I look forward to seeing that happen. It's good to get different perspectives on dancehall artistes".
As for Beenie Man being the subject of the first dancehall biography, Hope said, "He has a very broad image internationally." According to Hope, both the biography and Macka Diamond's novel are good for the business in different ways. She has read Macka Diamond's Bun Him, which she enjoyed. "It's a story about people who live their lives with dancehall as the backdrop," she says.
Andrea Dempster, owner of the Bookophilia store on Hope Road, St Andrew, has received a reviewer's copy of Who I Am? The Untold Story of Beenie Man and plans to stock the book. "It was very good. I was impressed. It grabs interest, has good details and good background," Dempster says.
