Wayne Wonder, Cham, Faith D’Aguilar Gave Us These Two Pioneering Reggae & Dancehall Christmas Songs

It has been 24 years since Wayne Wonder and Baby Cham’s classic Dancehall hit Warm Jamaican Christmas took over the Jamaican airwaves in the Yuletide season in 1997.

The duo, in a manner, which was only matched by Faith D’Aguilar’s Reggae hit Santa Ketch Up Inna Mango Tree, went authentically Jamaican in the song, jettisoning the idea of a ‘White Christmas’ with snow, mistletoe and sleigh bells, in favor of a tropical island style in the 1997 single, which was produced by Dave Kelly under his Madhouse Records imprint.

Wayne, Kelly and Cham penned the song for placement on VP Records’ Christmas Album, and according to the Hold Me Now singer, in a past interview with The Star tabloid, when Kelly introduced him to the project, he decided to differentiate his song from the ones recorded by the other artists on the album, as those were based on a Eurocentric and Temperate region point of view.

“I listened to a couple of the other songs and realised that some persons were singing about the traditional Christmas with snow and those things that we don’t have here in Jamaica. So I decided to write a song that represented Jamaica, and when Cham come in with his part, it was just right,” Wayne had said.

“I couldn’t sing about ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ or ‘Rudolph, the Red-Nose Raindeer’,” Wayne Wonder had told the Jamaica Observer in an interview a few years ago.

In another interview, Wayne had pointed out that he “wanted to do an authentic Jamaican Christmas song,” no interpolations of traditional melodies, but a “song to which “every youth could relate”.

The Camperdown High School old boy had pointed out that the lyrics had captured the creative mood the trio was in during the writing and production process, which he described as a “relaxed, natural and a happy vibes”.

The song calls for, among other things, that all mankind would have “a warm Jamaican Christmas time”, as Christmas in Jamaica was perfect with “no snow, where the good “sensemina grows” and in addition wishes for people to find “true love at Christmas time”.

VP’s Christmas Album, which was released on December 9, 1997, featured 13 tracks most of which were cover versions or interpolations of foreign Christmas songs/carols.

The songs on the album included Starting Today by Beres Hammond, Christmas In The Air by Sanchez; The Christmas Song by Mikey Spice, Give Love On Christmas by Fiona, Little Drummer Bwoy by  A.R.P, Feliz Navidad by Sonya Collymore and Everyday Is Christmas by Freddie McGregor.

The remaining songs were Joy To The World by Nikesha Lindo, Holiday Medley by Dean Fraser; Christmas In The Air Dancehall mix by Sanchez; Winter Wonderland by Pam Hall and featured another Dancehall song in the form of Rich Man For Christmas by Lady Saw.

Warm Jamaican Christmas had come 20 years after Faith D’Aguilar released the humourous Santa Ketch Up Inna Mango Tree, which is rated as one of the best-remembered and best-loved Christmas songs in Jamaican music.

Like Wayne Wonder and company, D’Aguilar had decided to sing the Reggae song with lyrics penned by herself and Pam Hall, that were authentically Jamaican.

The song, recorded at Federal Studios and which centered on a mishap during Santa Claus’ arrival for toy distribution.  According to Faith was adamant that there was no way, the song could say that Santa came down a chimney as like in northern countries, as Jamaica was far removed from that culture and thus a mango tree would be more appropriate.

“Why should Santa come down a chimney when we have none in Jamaica? A mango tree would be more appropriate,” she declared to The Jamaica Gleaner in a December 2019 interview.