Accompong Maroon Chief Says He And Protoje Grew Up Like Brothers, Dismisses L.A. Lewis’ “Wanna-Be Tribe”
Newly minted Accompong Town Maroon chief, Colonel Richard Currie, has sought to shed light on his longstanding connections with Reggae artiste Protoje, who voiced a dubplate and visited the community to help him in his leadership campaign leading up to election day last Saturday.
Speaking during an interview with Dionne Jackson Miller on Radio Jamaica’s Beyond The Headlines programme on Tuesday evening, the Colonel said he and Protoje, whose given name is Oje Ken Oliviere, grew up together and were like blood brothers.
The Munro College old boy made his comments after the host noted that “the excitement of the campaign permeated way beyond Accompong” and queried whether the Chief who is being labelled by many adoring women as Black Panther, had got Protoje involved in the campaign “in a deliberate attempt to attract wider national attention”.
“To be honest, anybody know me, or anybody know Protoje, know seh wi guh back from eye deh a knee. Wi guh prep school; wi guh high school and wi connect right through college, even though we weren’t in the same university studying the same courses,” Currie said.
“When he came back to Jamaica it was just like two bredda a link back up, you know. And before di music and all is not a musician – a mi bredda. Suh to di eyes dat see tings now, it would look like something that is orchestrated or set up, but mi bredda jus come give mi a strength and show mi some support while I was chasing a dream that I shared with him in the different conversations,” the 40 year old added.
Protoje had himself paid homage to Currie in his Like Royalty track, placing him amongst those who have always had his back even when he fell on hard times. He had also featured the chief in the accompanying video aligning his image with the line: “mi used to sleep pon Currie Couch… dem man deh neva lef mi out”.
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Protoje, Buju Banton and Spragga Benz were among those who used their platforms to urge Maroon voters from the mountainous community the hills of St. Elizabeth to elect Currie as their chief, to represent them for the next five years and oust then-leader Colonel Ferron Williams.
Protoje, who grew up in St. Elizabeth, had also voiced a campaign dubplate for Currie, using lyrics from his Like Royalty and Blood Money tracks.
During Tuesday’s interview, Jackson Miller also asked Currie about what she described as a dispute between himself and Dancehall entertainer L.A. Lewis, who has threatened to charge him with treason, if he does not, among other things, report to him and his Nyan Ko Pong about his financial state of affairs.
L.A. Lewis, who was recently ordered to undergo a mental evaluation by a judge, is known for his shenanigans relating to people in leadership positions, including the Queen of England whom he claims to be his personal friend, to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, upon whom he has launched verbal attacks.
He had launched the broadside against Currie after the chief disassociated Accompong from L.A. and stated on his Instagram page that there would be ‘no more games and disorder”.
“There is absolutely no dispute between myself and LA Lewis,” Currie who seemed to be unaware of L.A. Lewis’ usual wild theatrics responded. “I have made a statement with regards to the actions and carrying-ons of LA Lewis and I, nor the Maroons, the Trelawny Town Maroons have any affiliations or any arrangements or agreements with LA Lewis and the Nyag Ko Pong tribe. So that’s as much as I am prepared to state.
“I do not a carry unnecessary baggage; let me not say I don’t carry any personal emotions – when something affects my culture, I will speak out against it. When something threatens and plays against the morals of my people, I will speak against it and especially when we are being affiliated with a wannabe tribe then I have to speak out to protect a legacy,” he added.
When asked by Jackson Miller whether there was any validity to L.A. Lewis’ threats of charging him for treason if he did not submit his financial statements within 21 days, Currie was dismissive of the self-proclaimed Trillionaire Records boss.
“First ask yourself under what jurisdiction and I will leave it right there,” Currie said.
Asked whether he was concerned about any of the threats coming from LA Lewis, Currie responded: “Absolutely not.”