Wayne Wonder Overjoyed After ‘No Letting Go’ Certified Gold In The US: Interview

Wayne Wonder’s No Letting Go is now certified Gold in the United States, 20 years after its release on producer Steven ‘Lenky’ Marsden’s clap-filled Diwali Riddim.

The song was certified Gold yesterday (August 3) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after it reached the sales and streaming equivalent of 500,000 units sold in the United States.  First released in 2002, it is now one of four songs to sample or appear on Lenky’s Billboard-charting riddim and then go on to sell over half a million units in the US.

DancehallMag had the privilege of breaking the news to the veteran Jamaican entertainer and his team, who were overjoyed when they heard.

“I’m good. It’s a great feeling. I always try to do music from a good place. I don’t think about the success to follow, but every artist’s dream is to get stuff like this to show that their hard work has paid off,” Wonder said via telephone from Leeds in the United Kingdom.

The news has put him in the perfect frame of mind to hit the stage at Millennium Centre in the European country tomorrow (August 5, 2022).

The Diwali riddim, which had faced initial rejection from other acts who had heard it prior, became just what Wayne Wonder needed when he penned the lyrics to No Letting Go.

Unlike the other tunes on the Riddim, Wonder harmonized and crooned over the instrumental that Lenky sent him, for forty seconds before the signature claps even appear. He remembers telling Lenky the exact sound he was going for, while assembling the masterpiece.

“The song was just coming from a personal life experience. Coming from a special place and special person in my life, so in writing the lyrics, I just switched into that mode. I wrote the song in New York, and told Lenky that I wanted the song to have chord and bridge and when he put it together and we heard it, we knew it was something special,” said the singer, whose real name is Von Wayne Charles.

In a favourable twist of fate, Wayne Wonder noted that Lenky’s inclusion of him on the riddim was the universe’s way of repaying him for giving the producer his first car.

“I had been working with him for years when he was playing live music so when he switched over to music production, I transitioned with him. I actually gave him my first two door civic. I signed over the title to him and everything, and he gave me my most successful hit. That’s just how the stars aligned,” he told DancehallMag.

The song later appeared as the lead single on Wonder’s 2003 album No Holding Back, released via VP Records and Atlantic Records.  It peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, at No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was a Top 40 hit in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The smooth ballad had received a Director X music video, set to a coastal backdrop in late 2002.

In November 2020, No Letting Go was certified Gold in the UK for sales exceeding 400,000 units, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The No Holding Back album is certified Silver, for sales exceeding 60,000 copies.

The album earned Wonder his only Grammy Award nomination for Best Reggae Album in 2004.  He had also won the MOBO Award for Best Reggae Act in 2003.

The Portland native began songwriting at the age of 13, getting a major career break when he was given a regular weekly slot at Metro Media in Allman Town. His fortunes improved when he began working with Dave Kelly, who had become resident sound engineer at Penthouse Studios.  The partnership enjoyed a string of hits, starting with Saddest Day, and they also worked on Wonder’s second album, Part 2.

At the recently concluded staging of Reggae Sumfest, Wayne Wonder formed part of a stellar lineup who performed a tribute to Kelly for his contribution to Jamaican music.

This is a memory that will stick with the singer, forever.

“It was amazing being part of that experience. When we started out, we didn’t know what the outcome was gonna be and to know that they acknowledged Dave in such a way, was deserving. He was the engineer producer that recorded me when I came to Penthouse, but I realised that I had known from prior (from primary school) and I said, ‘wait, I know this youth’. We worked together for a very long time and to see the outcome now is such an honour and something I will never forget,” Wonder said.

Wonder’s other popular songs include Bounce Along, Watching You, Joyride with Cham, Bashment Girl, Bonafide Love with Buju Banton, Movie Star, The Best, and Informer.

In terms of the evolution of Dancehall and Reggae, he’s encouraging his older compatriots to be more patient and extend grace to the newcomers in the industry as they all strive for big breaks.

“Reggae music will always be Reggae music. If you check Wayne Wonder’s career I gave you lovers’ rock, hardcore Dancehall… everything. The new generation is just doing something different. When I just started out I didn’t know that they would acknowledge me in this way. So just give them a chance too. I Dirt Bounce, I vibe to Squash, Skeng, Masicka. I love their energy and the vibe,” he said.

Wayne’s latest song is Party All Night Long with Frankie Sly, released on July 29.

As for the other Diwali riddim hits, Sean Paul‘s Get Busy is currently certified Platinum in the US and UK, for sales exceeding one million and 600,000 units respectively.

Rihanna’s Pon De Replay (2005), which sampled the riddim, is currently 3X Platinum in the US and Platinum in the UK.

DJ Snake’s Let Me Love You (2015) with Justin Bieber, had also sampled the riddim. It is certified 5X Platinum in the US and 2X Platinum in the UK.

Lumidee’s R&B rendition of Diwali in Never Leave You (Uh Oooh Uh Oooh) (2004) is certified Silver in the UK, for sales exceeding 200,000 units.