INTERVIEW : PERFECT
Interview by : Alexandre Tonus
on Thursday, November 10th 2005 - 15 863 views
Revealed by the bomb Handcart bwoy, Perfect is without a doubt one of the most promising hopes of the young Jamaican generation. Since the enormous success of that track, his quality singles have kept multiplying and his reputation has not stopped growing. Already seen in Europe this summer, opening for Anthony B, and ahead of a return that many fans are eagerly awaiting at the end of November, this young and humble singer gave us a moment, in the middle of one of his Jamaican days, to answer our questions by phone.
Yo ! this is Perfect, live & direct from Jamaica….
Reggaefrance / We're delighted to be able to talk with you. First of all, can you explain why you chose this name? Is it something someone gave you?
Perfect / The name Perfect refers to the Creation, because the Creation is perfect and I'm part of the Creation, so I'm part of perfection. It's possible that at times I haven't been perfect in my actions or in my thoughts, but as the days go by, we try to do things the best way we can, we try to follow the right path. I know nobody is perfect, but using the name Perfect serves to motivate me on stage, to think about what I'm doing and to do it properly. Perfect, this name, is really there to strengthen me. Take Bounty Killer, he'll tell you about the ghetto and the gunmen in the streets, Snoop Doggy Dogg will tell you about his homies and his troubles with the police. Still, Snoop Doggy Dogg isn't a dog, Bounty Killer isn't a killer, Ninjaman isn't a ninja. Me, Perfect, I'm not perfect; I just use this name to improve my performance, to strengthen my career and my whole condition as an artist.
Can you tell us more about your musical education; how did you develop a taste for music and what are your main influences?
I started music at a very young age. The first time I did a show was at school, in 1988 or thereabouts. It was the first time I stepped on stage. Then, after school, I started doing some small dances in my neighbourhood. I sang on a sound system and that's how people got to know me. But well, those were really the beginnings, my first steps in music. I approached it all from a more professional angle from around the age of 20. I had a drum machine and a computer, so I started making instrumentals for myself. And then I also started listening to a wide variety of music, because you should never get stuck on one kind of music; I listen to R&B, pop, reggae, alternative music, country. I have to learn from all these kinds of music and draw lessons from each of them, in order to be unique myself.
It was really an apprenticeship. My first years in music were mostly about listening rather than singing. I listened a lot, I went to the studios. Without even telling the producers or promoters that I was an artist, I would sit in a corner and listen to a discussion about music, I watched how the artists worked in the studio. It really was an apprenticeship in those first years, until I recorded the song Lock me up. I had a contact with one of the DJs at Irie FM, Ron Muschett. He started playing that song and getting it heard in the dances. Perfect became my name at that time, because it's the name that was used when they played Lock me up. After that, I recorded the song Johnny shouldn't trim, a good song that people sang along to and that kept making me a well-liked artist. Then came Handcart bwoy, which is the best-known song. But it was really a struggle all those years. It would take too long to tell everything that really happened during my youth.
I read that the lyrics of Handcart bwoy were written long before being recorded.
Yes, the lyrics of Handcart bwoy were written something like 5 or 6 years ago. I was a handcart bwoy (editor's note: a barrow boy) in the market square of Brownstone. I pushed a cart of fruit and vegetables at Brownstone market; Brownstone is in St. Ann, it's a town with a big market. I lived in Bamboo and I regularly took the bus from Bamboo to Brownstone, where I sold my fruit and vegetables, which was my job at the time. Then I met this girl. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a teacher, she belonged to the middle class here in Jamaica - whereas a handcart bwoy is someone who comes from the street, a ghetto child. It's one of the lowest-paid and least respected jobs in Jamaica. So she fell in love with me. I only had the chorus of the song then, but when I got the riddim from Rebel Chris of Digital B., I sat down and brought out these lyrics which were in fact already inside me. That's how it happened.
So it's a very personal song.
Very personal, yes. It's my life, I lived it. These are moments of my life that I record.
There's another song I'd like to talk about with you, Amerimaka. Is that something personal too? Have you ever had problems getting a visa?
Yes. The American embassy refused me a work permit and because of that I lost thousands of dollars. To this day, I think I've missed 62 shows in the United States, in different states. I'm not part of any terrorist group, I'm not into drugs or anything like that. It's just that my father had filled in a form a few years earlier for me to become a citizen of that country, and as a result the embassy refuses to issue you a work permit when you have made such an application. I want my fans and Reggaefrance to know that there is nothing illegal about it. Perfect has no problem. It's just because of that immigration form.
And to come to Europe in November, no problem?
No, no problem. Europe will be my home while I'm away from home. And besides, I'm getting closer to Africa; once you're in Europe, it's not very far.
Have you ever been to Africa?
No, I've never been there, but I hope to next year... I'm planning to do a show in Senegal.
Back to your career. How are you experiencing the big success you've had since Handcart bwoy? Things have been moving very fast for you since that day.
To be honest, I'd been working at it for a long time. Even when I was selling fruit pushing my cart in the market, I was always making my music. Every evening, when I got home, I went back to see my friends who had a sound system and I made music, because music was my main interest. You need certain things to survive, like having the means to buy clothes and food, which is why you sometimes have to work at the same time. But music has always been the main priority. It's like a carpenter; if a carpenter is shaping a beautiful table or a piece of furniture, after working every day and once he gets the final result of the table he wanted, he mustn't doubt, because he has put his whole heart into it. I knew that one day success would come, I just didn't know which day it would be, so I kept working. Today, I know more people, and more people know me. There are lots of photos, lights... I'm still the same handcart bwoy. I still go to the same little corner shop to buy something to cook. It's not as if I ate in the classiest restaurant in Jamaica. I always keep a natural attitude, in the street, with my fans. Most of the calls I get are from fans, because I put my mobile number on the photos I hand out for my promotion. Since when does an artist do that?!? I get calls from young schoolchildren, labourers, people from government institutions, people from the street, rastas...
Calls from pretty girls too?
Calls from girls too... You know very well that in Jamaica we have some of the most beautiful girls in the world... By the way, right now I'm with a French friend of mine. We work together. His name is Sherkhan and he owns the label Tiger Records here in Jamaica. We're going to do quite a few things together soon. He's young, but I'm helping him get his label off the street. I've just recorded the track Hit them for him, on a hip-hop instrumental; it's his production, Tiger Records. Another song, 7 is the number, also came out on Tiger Records.
As you just mentioned, you have lots of different styles. You can do reggae, dancehall, hip-hop and even love songs, like your tune Rainbow on the Lava ground riddim. How do you find this inspiration?
All the inspiration I have comes from life itself. From the way people live, the way people treat each other, the way I live and the way I treat people too. People's experience is my experience. It's really people who inspire me the most. Honestly.
And how do you write your lyrics? Do you always have a pen and paper on you?
No. Pen and paper are mostly for reminders, to jot down a word or two you're afraid of forgetting. To be honest with you, there's so much to say these days that it's not worth writing a lot down. It's only about knowing what you're going to say, going to the studio, settling onto the riddim, singing in tune, being in good health and letting yourself go, giving the best you've got. That's the most important thing right now. It's really about what you've learned, what you live and what you're going to live; that's what I try to talk to people about when I record.
You mentioned your upcoming visit to Europe, but you've already been to Europe, last summer, with Anthony B. You played big shows in front of huge crowds, notably in Germany and Italy. How was the vibe over there?
It was the bomb. The vibe was really, really irresistible. Because honestly, I'd heard a lot about Europe, I'd been told you had an audience of reggae lovers like nowhere else. But this time it was my first experience, I saw it with my own eyes. And then, I was touring with Anthony B and Anthony B has a lot of success in Europe. I was able to do all the biggest shows with Anthony B; we went to Spain, to Belgium, we even went as far as Slovenia. I'm telling you, it was really huge, it was full of irie vibrations... in Europe, believe me. I want to do it again. That's why I'm doing it again. I'll be in Europe around 22 November. I really hope a show can take place in Paris, because I have to give the Parisians some fruit and vegetables from my cart.
You recorded a song with him, the tune No shelly, and then you came to Europe with him. What is your relationship with him?
Anthony B is like a brother to me and I'm like a brother to him. I think what really keeps us so close is that neither of us is from Kingston. Anthony B is from Trelawny and Perfect comes from St. Ann. St. Ann and Trelawny are two neighbouring parishes and we share this kind of love for the countryside. We're just bringing the love of the countryside to Kingston, but we do it well. He is my brother, really.
What is your relationship with the other artists of your generation, like Fantan Mojah, I Wayne or Bascom X? Are they friends or rivals?
We get along well with Fantan, we get along well with Bascom X, with I Wayne too. I don't see I Wayne often, to be honest with you, because he's rather turned towards the United States. Me, I'm more interested in Europe. So we don't see each other much, but we get along well. Turbulence too. There's no separation between the young artists. We all listen to each other's lyrics, we all respect each other's songs, because we all transpose reality, we talk about life and try to make the right songs to make people feel good, to make the world a better place.
Do you have an album in the pipeline? You've released a lot of songs by now and you could put out two albums at once.
The album will come out next year, without a doubt. I can't give you a precise date yet, because we're still looking for the label that will be really interested in producing this album, but it's certain that it will come out next year.
Do you think it will present itself more as a compilation of singles, or do you plan to write songs specially for the album?
There will be new songs on the album that nobody will have heard yet. I have a large repertoire, you know, and we'll take care to choose the best of the Perfect that has been kept hidden until now. Obviously, there will also be songs that people know, because you can't release an album containing only new material. So we'll also put some of the songs that have already been released on the album. It's certain that Handcart bwoy will be on the album, you can't avoid that.
To finish, do you have a particular message for the French and for your fans in France?
I want them to know that Perfect will always stay true. I'll keep releasing good songs that uplift men and women alike, children and older people alike. We try to make songs that everyone can sing and everyone can pass on. We want to make songs that can cross all barriers. So people can always expect Perfect to give them good things. I will always try to deliver the message properly. And then they'll have to come and see me on stage, because it's another side of my personality. I'll give them everything I've got, 100%.
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