When dancer-turned recording artiste-turned producer Ding Dong takes the stage at the upcoming Shaggy and Friends Dare to Care concert on January 2, 2010, he likely won't need a band, or even a track, to perform Holiday, his massive hit featuring C-Sharp's Chevaughn Clayton.

"Me tell you, man, me go to Vaz Prep for an event not so long ago, and children - five and six - right up to the parents, them know it," said the entertainer who was born Kemar Ottey. "Dem sing out from the intro right to the end. I almost never have to do anything."

Indeed, the bouncy track and its accompanying dance, Summer Swing, is seemingly everywhere these days. But as Ding Dong recounted, Holiday, like so many of the great songs, came about in a largely unplanned manner.

Trademark talent

Athlete Usain Bolt (centre), Ding Dong (right) and other members of Ravers Clavers dance crew.

"Is actually New York I was headed when the producer called and said he had a riddim. I listen it really only once and didn't pay no mind to it again as I was rushing out to make a show. Some time later, Chevaughn call and play me the same riddim, and tell me that him trying to come up with something for it, and he eventually come up with the chorus, an' when I come back to Jamaica, I went and jus' voice it on spot."

That kind of extempore invention is fast becoming one of his trademarks. It is, in fact, how he came upon the name for his dance crew, Ravers Clavers.

"I was in UK at the time, and over there they don't say 'Mek we go a dance'. They say 'We goin' rave'. So being as we were out every night, I just took on the name Ravers," he said. "The Clavers part just came up haphazard cause it sound good." And just like that, the dance crew is now 18-man strong.

As it relates to writing his lyrics, Ding Dong said he likes to complete the process as soon as he catches the vibe.

"Writing a song is one thing, but for me, I need to feel the immediate vibes - the 'right-now' kinda feeling - and when I sit down and start take too much time to put down your thoughts, I find that I lose that vibe. That's what been working for me and I stick with it," he stated.

Ding Dong may have even less time for contemplation, with not only his flourishing recording career, but adding producer (most recently the Giants rhythm) and music mogul (His Nannyville Enterprises boasts a number of up-and-comers, including Strength, Tornado and Eclipse). But he remains first and foremost a dancer.

"Is dancing build me and that's how I present myself, regardless of whatever else I do," he said.

Dancing has also taken him far and wide, from Japan to the Caribbean and also to Brazil and Costa Rica. In the latter country, Ding Dong said, he is idolised.

"Them have me as the dancing prince". That title is an indirect reference to the late 'Dancing King', Bogle, whose memory, Ding Dong said, he honours and keeps alive at every opportunity.

Ding Dong has already released a follow-up to Holiday, titled Responsible Parents, for which a video is already in rotation.

big-up fathers too

"It's good to big-up the mothers, and this song does that too but, as a father myself, I want to see the fathers get proper mention and show that there are fathers out there taking care of their families, and also to hold up a mirror to those who might not be doing their best," he said.

In the meantime, he's building his own legacy as a major figure in the entertainment industry, a legacy that his upcoming appearance on the Shaggy and Friends Dare to Care concert will only help to cement.