Deejaying National Water Commission Protester Prompts Dancehall Remix
A video clip of an exuberant male National Water Commission (NWC) staff member, spitting lyrics demanding payment of monies owed to workers by the Government of Jamaica, has taken on a life of its own, with producer Neutron Obliv creating a remix.
NWC… wi waa wi money is supposedly the name of the song which is laid on a beat with a few similarities to Dave Kelly’s Fiesta riddim, which was released in 2003.
The NWC staff member was among more than 2000 staff members across Jamaica, including some management personnel, who went on strike on Tuesday morning, to protest issues relating to the fact that they have been largely left out of the Government’s new compensation review for public sector workers.
Although it may seem comical, the song aptly summarised some of the issues at hand for persons who were not offay with the rift between the workers and the Finance Ministry.
“Waa wi money, waa wi money/Di Minista seh, him nuh memba wi/25 year now dem owe wi/Suh wi waan wi money,” the Water Commission worker, sang as he jumped in the air as if performing at a stage show in front of an big audience, in a video interview with the Jamaica Observer.
Now, according to Neutrob Obliv, who is also an artist, songwriter and mixing engineer, the song has already been mixed and mastered, as he noted on Instagram earlier today.
“#NWC #NOWATA #STRIKE @sparkiebabyofficial SEND HIM A ROAD DEH SPARKS 😂😂😂😂,” the producer, who mixed and mastered Skillibeng’s Crocodile Teeth album said, tagging Zip FM disc jockey ZJ Sparks in the post.
This is the third time a news item, featuring an animated protester/interviewee has been made into a Dancehall song.
The first was in June 2011 when Clifton ‘Cliff Twang’ Brown was interviewed by Television Jamaica (TVJ) reporter Dara Smith, who visited the area and interviewed him in the community of Robertsfield in St Andrew, which was marooned by flood waters.
Cliff Twang who responded to the questions in an American accent, told the reporter that: ‘Nobody canna cross it’ and became an overnight celebrity after DJ Powa remixed his interview into a song, which even earned him an endorsement from telecommunications company LIME (now FLOW).
In 2013, Kingston 13 native Tutty Gran Rosie went viral for another remixed over-the-top interview, in which she demanded justice for her house in sunlight street which was flooded house after heavy rains, due to faulty engineering by workmen on an adjacent facility.
Rosie, whose given name is Bridgette Bailey, did not meet the success of Cliff Twang. However she was invited to Reggae Sumfest that year by Lady Saw for a cameo appearance but was so nervous that the performance fell flat.
She also recorded a single with QQ called the Tutty Gran Wine, but despite this buzz eventually waned.
As for the NWC strike, the industrial action which brought the nation to its knees, crippled business and government activities across the country, ended on Wednesday evening with the workers scheduled to start working the night shift, at 11 o’ clock.
Labour Minister Karl Samuda had told the media that a back to work agreement was reached on Wednesday afternoon between the NWC and the five unions representing the workers, and the Finance Ministry, after 16 hours of meetings.
The signed agreement, states that among other things, a compensation review is to be conducted and implemented within six months and there be no victimisation of workers who participated in the strike.
A consultant will also be procured to conclude a job evaluation using the new public sector job evaluation tool. The consultant conducting the public sector compensation restructuring will also make the alignment to the new compensation structure public service.
In addition, the proposal for the compensation restructure for the NWC will be conducted and finalised within three months from May 20.