Hezron off to New Delhi; still ‘Holding On’

Reggae singer Hezron Clarke – who goes simply by the name Hezron – is definitely a Man on a Mission, as his last Tad’s Records album is titled. He has joined that very small and elite group of reggae troubadours who have taken the music live and in living colour to India. The artiste is currently in New Delhi, representing at a Jamaica Independence celebration, which takes place on Friday. The Jamaica Day event is organised by Ambassador Jason Hall, high commissioner from Jamaica to India.

“It’s an honour and a real pleasure,” Hezron told The Gleaner. “The Jamaican High Commission reached out to my booking agent in the UK for the date and, after that, things fell in place. Jamaica is a platform to the world … they look to see what’s happening here, so it’s important to have a presence in Jamaica.”

He shared that this is his first trip to India “and to be there for a Jamaica Day celebration makes it even more special”.

The celebration will also see a performance from reggae singer Soul Rebel.

Hezron noted that this year has been “a good one”. The artiste, who is originally from St James, was honoured at the Spirit of Independence Civic and Awards Ceremony on August 6. He was the recipient of the Spirit of Independence Award for his contributions to arts, culture, and humanitarian work in the parish. Hezron made sure that he was there in person at Sam Sharpe Square to collect the award at the event, which was hosted by the mayor to celebrate Jamaica’s 64th year of Independence.

“Recognition at this level was overwhelming … and it wasn’t even something that I was thinking about. This Spirit of Independence award is validation that I am doing something right,” he said, adding that it was always his intention to make music that inspire people across the globe, “but I have a special thing for the people in the west”.

The day before Hezron left Jamaica for his New Delhi assignment, Tad’s Records hosted the première of his music video for the song, Holding On. The entertainment fraternity turned out for the event at Footprints Café on Belmont Road, St Andrew. Very few music videos actually get their own première, and the occasion was as formal as an album launch, with many speakers – both in person and via video – giving Hezron his flowers during an hour-long segment dedicated to speeches.

Hezron stood in the audience and smiled throughout. He later explained that the phrase “holding on” was the cry of the people and that this video was essential to exploring that lament.

“Holding on is the constant cry because of the situation in the world. Everywhere you turn on social media, people have reasons to be holding on. I released the song three weeks before [Hurricane] Melissa, and when Melissa came, the people of Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, Trelawny were calling on the radio stations requesting it and saying ‘Hezron wrote this song for us.’ We have a lot of testimony,” Hezron told The Gleaner.

“You have people facing immigration issues in the US, and dem tell mi ‘Hezron mi jus’ haffi hide and hold on’. This is a common theme. In Jamaica, we seh ‘Yeah man we a gwaan hol’ it.’ Same thing,” he explained further.

He said that he waited nearly one year to do a music video because he felt like he “needed to mek the song marinate and soak in people and become the soundtrack that people hear and feel”. He shared that that has finally happened, especially in overseas markets.

“Every time I go on tour, that’s the song I have to close the show with … all over the world … Africa, Canada. As a matter of fact, in the UK it is the number one song for the past two months. It went number one in a few other places too,” Hezron said.

He wouldn’t allow the interview to wrap up without mentioning his beloved grandfather, who he described as “a man of spirituality” and who was very present in his life while growing up. On a visit to his childhood home, he looked at his grandfather’s rocking chair and remembered the many reasonings they had, and Holding On was born. Interestingly, a rocking chair is central to the video, and there was actually one on stage the night of the première. Ray Alexander, one of the speakers, said he knew the song from the proposed title was Grandfather’s Chair.

A mellow acoustic performance from Hezron brought the curtains down on the music video première.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com