6 days ago
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Dancehall artiste QQ, who is now dubbed the 'Waistline King' after his performance at Saturday's People's National Party (PNP) mass rally, is still beaming with excitement at performing on a political stage locally for the first time.
"Funny enough, I will get booked all di time in other Caribbean islands to go and perform for political parties but it has never been a situation in Jamaica. It was a unique situation for me, being able to reconnect with the Jamaican masses after such a long time performing in Jamaica. It definitely was a fun and phenomenal experience for me," he told THE STAR.
He was explicitly introduced on stage as a "Comrade artiste" and hyped up the chanting PNP supporters by replacing his original lyrics of Tek It To Dem (Ruum Ram) with lines such as ' Comrade wi seh and wi naah beg nuh friend'. But when asked about his allegiance to the Mark Golding-led party, QQ insisted he was an entertainer first.
"And as an entertainer, if I'm called to go somewhere to perform, I'm gonna get my job done. Mi a artiste, mi come fi sing and mi ago just sing," he laughed. When pressed on whether he's a PNP supporter and was endorsing the party, he replied, "No I never said that, I'm just saying, my vote is in the polling booth," he giggled.
The rally in Cross Roads also featured dancehall stalwart Beenie Man who set the pace with tunes for Comrades who decorated the streets in their orange outfits, cheering on both the entertainers and their party's leaders. QQ left it all on stage, performing his hit singles such as Stukie and One Drop. Just before exiting the stage, the artiste advised the railing supporters to ensure that on election day - September 3, they vote PNP. He later greeted Golding and other candidates, before making way for Yaksta, who encouraged the audience to "vote Jamaica [and] spread love and unity".
QQ opined that everyone in Jamaica should be happy "because election time is when we get to see how strong our democracy is and how much our society has matured".
"We see people on opposite sides having fun together. I have fans on the opposing side who would've been a bit shocked but they still show love and it shows that the society is mature. Some people understand that there are gonna be entertainers who's gonna demonstrate their democratic right and some who will get paid and go do their job. It's beautiful to see how our democracy works and know that our democracy is strong," said QQ, noting that he's never fearful of political appearances impacting his career negatively.
The Maverley-raised singjay, who insisted his performance was "business", agreed with the view that performers, especially dancehall artistes, are highlighted mainly during the political season.
"We also have to understand that politics is just politics and will always remain as [such] and you affi just maintain your role as an entertainer. The same way politicians have their interests to capitalise on entertainers, [we] also have to find that means on capitalising on politicians when we need to. So I just look on it as a situation of 'one han' cyaah clap' and yuh need support and yuh also have to give support to get support," he opined.
However, he noted the significant benefits both the artistes and politicians may reap from artistes creating politically-driven dubplates for campaigns or performing at live political events. He also underscored that getting entertainers involved is a good strategy for politicians to connect with the youth.
"Politicians, at election time, would generally reach out to entertainers because of the sway that entertainers would hold with the younger population. Also, they have to now come out [of] parliament and be on the ground; and the only people who are on the ground who can speak of it and resonate with the ground are entertainers. We are with the people through their struggles. We know what they face on a daily basis and we understand dem, so they genuinely seek out entertainers because they need to understand the ground more," he said.
English (US) ·