Pt I-Jah Cure’s Universal Cure Interview w/ YawdFromAbroad.com
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Late last fall I received an invitation to interview international reggae artist, Jah Cure. Instantly, I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I mean, I know blogging brings some sweet breaks, but this was a biggie. While I was excited to do the interview, the invitation to do so also put a lot on my brain and on my plate as well. I mean we’re talking about one of the most controversial men in reggae, and you’re offering little ole’ me the chance to interview him. I’ll take it and I did.
Fast forward a week or two after emailing and setting up connections, fielding possible questions from my friends and acquaintances (OK and bragging), getting phone numbers, and dates and times, it’s D-day. Propped up in my eerily quiet kitchen, praying I have all my wires plugged in right and that I’m not too close to the recorder (yes, I have it recorded, with his permission of course, that’s a story in and of itself), I methodically dial…876-***-**** (no, I don’t still have the number, nor did I ever call it again) and hold my breath. I’m praying this is a land line I’m calling and not a cell, ’cause I know a little something about making long distance calls to JA on the home phone. It’s a big NO! NO!
Anyway, the phone rings, my hands shake, and then it happens. Jah Cure answers the phone and I introduce myself, not that he’ll remember, but Lord knows I will, and that’s all that matters to me. I quickly remember to ask him how much time do I have, and he says quite casually that I don’t have a limit. OK, I can breathe a little easier, but I’m not totally buying that he’s going to stay on the phone with me indefinitely. I mean let’s face it, he’s a busy man and I’m a blogger on a budget. This call is costing me money, so I keep it sweet and to the point, and stick to my questions.
As I begin, I find myself having a non-stop conversation inside my head. Wow, he sounds just like he does on TV and on his music. (I haven’t seen him in person, but I do ask him when he’s coming to the US in the interview, to which he replies that he would love to come. Translation= he doesn’t have a Visa to come, just yet. Oh well, I’m certainly not opposed to catching a show when I’m in JA.) Will I piss him off if I ask him about the his conviction like every other interviewer does? Can I really be unbiased? I wonder who’s there with him? I wonder who keeps calling his phone? Are those kids in the background I hear? If I stop holding my breath, will I lose my connection? Yeah, all very random, but real thoughts.
Well, I asked a variety of questions, some were just ice breakers, like who updates his MySpace page? At the time, it had his birthday pictures on there, (yeah, I’ve been sitting on this interview for MONTHS. Why? Because this album has been pushed back more times than I can even remember). He laughs and admits that someone else does it. No problem, I mean it’s not like he’s the only one that does it. Right? I ask him how he celebrated his birthday and he casually tells me how he kicked it with Sean Paul, Asafa Powell, Wayne Marshall, and Bounty Killer at an area club. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that party.
Well, after he’s comfortable with my line of questioning (and I’ve stopped my hand from shaking the receiver), we get into the meat of the interview. Here’s Part I of my interview with Jah Cure:
YFA: Can you tell me how you felt when you performed at Curefest in Trelawny for your fans, for the first time after being released? Were you overwhelmed? Thankful? What kind of emotions were you experiencing when you hit the stage early that morning?
JC: I mean, it was a great feeling. One of the great times of my life. One of the memorable times, cause you know, being free and knowing that for the first time in five years Jamaicans are in front of you and it’s your show. It’s all about coming to see what Cure has to offer, and what Cure looks like, and those who don’t know me want to hear what he sounds like, what he looks like. Was a great time for me in my life.
YFA: Since your release from prison, have you experienced any backlash or problems regarding your conviction?So do you feel there is a stigma surrounding you and if so, how do you handle it?
JC: There are a lot of things that affect me, but I mean the worst of my days is gone so…It can’t be worser than what I’ve been through before.
YFA: But how do you handle it? Do you just pray…(interrupted)
JC: You have to handle it because this is life. You just can’t roll over and die because of a sad situation that you have been through and think that you are the worst, you have to just dust yourself off again and try again. We are all human beings, it doesn’t matter what you are trying to do with your life as long as its positive and you know that you are not trying to go down that road again.
YFA: I know I’d read last year where it’d been rumored that you’d been banned from the UK, but your publicist did come out and say it was a rumor…(interrupted)
I don’t know about any banning. I never tried to enter the UK In my life. Some guy claims that he is trying to put a show with me, but I didn’t have a contract with him
YFA: Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up…
JC: No, I’ve never tried to enter the UK before. Some guy was trying to get me there, but it wasn’t my greatest interest to work with those kinds of people. There are some folks out there that are trying to book shows for you and trying to book you into the wrong thing. I was just…unfortunately they didn’t approach their business right, so it probably looks bad on us cause it looks bad on them.
YFA: When you listen to the lyrics and the things that are going on in dancehall and you hear about Red Stripe pulling out of the shows… (interrupted)
JC: But remember that it affects us, cause you know, there’s no time at all that they are going to keep a big show in Jamaica and it’s only going to be just dancehall artists. You gotta have a few reggae acts to fit in. Reggae is getting stifled right now in a certain way, because most people is cheering for the dancehall, and the dancehall is like a 6 month um, um, um fool crap that you reap and after a while…I mean those songs comes and die. Yuh, know what I mean? Authentic reggae songs traditionally lives and live long. Like any good R&B, and any good pop songs. They are all good music.
YFA: What is the message that you want listeners to get from your music?
JC: Love and freedom, yuh know what I mean? Love for oneself and love for others. Love for humanity. First love yourself before you can love anyone. Loves means much more to life than just words, loves means much more to life than just to say. Universal love, from the Universal Cure.
YFA:What was the direction you wanted to go in with this album, I know you’d stated (in previous interviews) that you were disappointed with the album design of True Reflections, so this time around what changes did you make?
JC: Well, I mean. True Reflections is not an album. That was just for the ghetto, when I was inside. I didn’t have full control over it, it was like producers from all over, too much people was in it. I didn’t really get to make an official album launch or anything. That was just a quick hurry work, I didn’t like it though. But now I get time to work on this album and the people that we’re dealing with, they know. We’re trying to do our best in everything we do in the productions and the presentation and all these things. This is one of the best albums I ever put out so we gotta do it.Fix the quality, to the arrangements, to the songs, to the lyrics, to the topics.
YFA: So, do you have any favorites on Universal Cure?
JC: Yeah, I have a couple of favorites-Jailer, Call on Me, Believe In Me.
YFA: Now, they say great minds think alike and your relationship with Beres Hammond is well known. You’ve always stated that he was instrumental to your career. Do you still have a working relationship with him and did you work with him or Harmony House on your latest album?
JC: Beres Hammond is always my Daddy. He’s like a mentor. He’s the one that taught me the music and take me on tour and produce my first song, first album, so he’s always in my life. And it’s great to have a man like Beres Hammond in my life and he’s so experience, and anything I want to know about the music, I can always go to Beres Hammond and say you know I don’t like dis and dis and dis. He’s like so experienced, he’s like 30 something years in this business. So, he’s like one of the greatest icons we have here in our music. I feel great having him around, as a Dad and as a mentor, in this business ya know?
Tomorrow, I will post Part II of my interview with Jah Cure. We discuss everything from the election of Barack Obama to his rumored Baby Momma drama. LOL! You have to read his response to the rumors for yourself. And, I even managed to get him to sing for me and I’ll share the live audio with you tomorrow!
Click here to read Part II.
2 comments ↓
[...] my interview with Jah Cure. Jah Cure’s “Universal Cure” hit stores today. Click here to read Part [...]
Great interview! What a fabulous opportunity, indeed! I would have had to take a few minutes to skin pupalik (um, that’s triple backflips for our American friends) in excitement before I started the interview!! Congrats, Ma!
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