5 Questions with ... Professor Nuts

For some fans, just hearing the name Professor Nuts is enough to make them chuckle. The entertainer has played a vital role in the development of popular Jamaican music and is acknowledged as one of the first Jamaican artistes to infuse comedy with social commentary and music.

Among Professor Nuts’ popular songs are Inna De Bus, Nuttn’ Ah Gwaan Fada, Satan Strong, Fish & Festival, Funny Guy and Don’t.

He names Josey Wales, Charlie Chaplin and Yellowman as his influences, and it was appropriate that it was Yellowman who presented the prestigious Rugu Dat Golden Mic Award to him at an official function recently.

“Oh my word .... I am so honoured!” Nuts shared. “Thanks to all the executives who put this award together and chose me to be the first one to get it.”

This week, 5 Questions With ... made the link with Professor Nuts.

1. How and why did you transition from dancer to deejay?

It wasn’t that complicated as I always had music in me. But in 1980, inspired by a cassette from a deejay called Nicodemus, I started writing lyrics. By listening how he sound, I started to emulate that and write lyrics compatible to one of his and it urged me to write more and more using his pattern ... and it sounded good. Then I entered a deejay contest in 1980 and I won. Barry G looked at me and said ‘Yuh good’. From somebody like Barry G seh that ... Wow ... it give me the strength and courage to carry on. Then I started doing some little sound system and get my applause and it feel good, so I continued.

2. What’s the story behind your stage name, Professor Nuts?

The name Professor Nuts derive from the dancing ... they called me Disco Nuts. I could really dance good and the people said that I was so unique in my dancing that it was crazy ... nuts. Being the person I am in the lyrical content, dem seh ‘Yuh can dance good and yuh can deejay good ... yuh a nuh Disco ... yuh a Professor.’ And that even work better than my name Carl Wellington because if yuh go on the road and seh Mr Wellington nobody knows who yuh talking about. Rugu Dat.

3. You have combined comedy and social commentary with deejaying. What inspired you to do this and did you think it would work?

I didn’t know it would work. How I decided to mix dancehall with comedy is I heard Yellowman seh something when he was on Aces ... ‘If yuh waan fi ketch Yellowman colour, dip oonuself inna hot water.’ And him drop him voice at the end. Right there and then I seh ‘That is comedy. Yellowman a tell me fi bun up myself fi ketch his colour.’ And I liked the way too that he descended his voice... he was in a high pitch and then his voice just descend right down ... effortless. So I started writing some lyrics with eight bars and at first four bars I would go high and at the fifth bar to the eighth bar I would drop my voice and it works. It’s so interesting and convincing ... the way how yuh state the joke when yuh reach the climax of the lyrics.

That development with the social commentary didn’t come overnight. I was on a sound name Love Child and after about two years on the sound I decided to see if I could change the concept of this whole dancehall thing. You cannot turn your back to a crowd to elaborate to them, so one night I stand up on one of the record boxes and face the crowd and face my fears. I tried to do it in the dancehall stageshow way and it worked. When I relate the lyrics and dem see the action that speak louder than words it was more accepted to them than we turn our back to them and mixing. That’s when this comedy thing come across and dem see the lyrics. I come in with the thing ‘Take it down low ... cause this is going to be a stageshow.’

4. What would you say has been your biggest accomplishment?

My biggest accomplishment is the acceptance of my fans. That makes me feel rich ... proud. There is nothing greater than people accepting yuh inna dem life, dem living room and inna dem head. Lyrically speaking people accept yuh and that is love. And for the past couple of years is like dem a lay it on pon mi even more. And I appreci-love dem for that. That acceptance is more than gold ... more than money. I don’t mek nuh money out of the deejay business because I come from the days when I do it fi di love. And still doing it for the love right now is feeling so great that somebody can see me pon the road and seh ‘Nuts, there is a lyrics that I love.” And the popularity is another accomplishment. Yuh can walk down the road and people seh ‘A Nuts dat yuh know.’ The old and the young. That respect that the old and the young give yuh ... which I show that respect back from what they have done.

5. What advice do you have for up and coming artistes?

My advice to up-and-coming artiste is Be Yourself. Don’t try to be like another. Be a leader, not a follower. Be polite to your fans. Do not disrespect your co-workers ... that mean, don’t get inna no passa passa with no other deejay. Don’t be a centrespread on the website doing the wrong things or saying the wrong things. No expletives in your songs. Do good music that can be accepted by the world and generations to come ... and maybe you will end up on the Billboard chart.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com