Agent Sasco Has No Regrets About Name Change Made 15 Years Ago
Dancehall artist Agent Sasco, one of Jamaica’s most potent lyricists, says 15 years after shelving the stage name ‘Assassin’, a moniker bestowed on him during his days as a student at Camperdown High School in Kingston, he is satisfied that his decision was the right choice.
He made his comments during an interview on Radio Jamaica’s Two Live Crew recently. According to the artist, whose given name is Jeffrey Campbell, the name ‘Assassin’ which he got as a result of lyrically crushing his schoolmates in Dancehall clashing competitions in high school, over time, had grown to be somewhat problematic.
“The name change was necessary because the name ‘Assassin’ itself couldn’t grow into my future ambitions… But the point is, the name Assassin, is just the nature of the name and the negative connotations that immediately come, just couldn’t grow… and even for other considerations as well, so like search engine purposes…,” he explained to hosts Dahlia Harris and Wesley Burger.
“My Instagram is @agentsacsco, my twitter is @agentsasco. You have agentsasco.com; all of those things are very easy with a name like that… But when you go ‘Assassin’ now, you get a video game, movie… so there is value in doing it that way, and once again there is not that immediate connotation,” he added.
The Hope River artist said the name Assassin was not commensurate with his stable image and upright persona, something which was also picked up by many of his supporters and even state entities and corporate organizations which held him in high regard.
“So a lot of the partnerships that I am able to pursue, at this time, being the JN ambassador, being an ambassador for recycling Partners of Jamaica, as well as an ambassador with the Ministry of National Security with the We Transform Programme, all those things are a little bit more seamless, because you don’t have to do any kind of gymnastics and explain the name,” he said.
Agent Sasco, who spent some of his formative years in Jerusalem Mountain in Westmoreland, also cited an example years ago when he was doing his university degree, and was part of a JAMPRO campaign, when concerns were raised about the juxtapositioning of “Assassin and the Jamaican flag”.
“Becaw that actually happened one time, there was a JAMPRO programme and I was to be a part of it and at the launch, mi actually get mi likkle plaque an ting an den mi si like some people gather ova mi an dem a look pon mi a likkle funny, call mi an seh: ‘Jah know, yuh know wi rate yuh and everything, but Jah know, bwoy di name’. I immediately understood, clearly. So anyhow, di name Sasco eliminates all a those considerations, but if mi did name Sacso from morning, I don’t imagine dat a woulda change mi name,” the Loco artist stated.
Sasco, who first came to public attention in 2000, had stated in March 2016 during a Reggae Talk event at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, that he had decided to adjust his name, on ‘January morning’ of 2006, and chose the name Agent Sasco as persons were already calling him many versions of Assassin, including Sasco.
According to The Gleaner, it came on the heels of the death of his mother in late October 2005. At the time Sasco also said that on the worldwide front, after 9/11 the name Assassin became ‘a little jarring and in addition, while searching ‘Assassin’ on the internet the prominent results did not include him, but instead video games such as The Assassin’s Creed and things irrelevant to Dancehall or himself.
In the meantime, Sasco is part of Crime Stop’s latest social media campaign dubbed Stand Up For Our Country aimed at regaining the trust of Jamaicans in its fight against crime and eradicating the ‘informa fi dead’ culture. The campaign, was officially launched two Sundays ago and also features Bounty Killer and Reggae songstress Sevana.