THE last time Macka B was in Jamaica, it was late May 2010 and he was down to perform on Western Consciousness in Westmoreland. Things did not go as planned.
“It rain an’ the show was called off, an’ it was the same day with the Dudus thing. The whole place was inna turmoil,” he recalled.
The 49-year-old British deejay is scheduled to perform Saturday at Rebel Salute. Barring unforeseen developments, the show is still on, and the security forces are not currently hunting dons wanted by the United States government.
Macka B (born Christopher MacFarlane), whose parents were from Hanover, looks forward to any opportunity to visit and perform in the land of their birth.
“It’s very important for I to be here, is here mi parents come from an’ most a mi family live here. Is a joy for I,” he said.Macka B’s previous performance in Jamaica was at the 2000 Rebel Salute in St Elizabeth. His latest hit song, the vinyl-pushing Never Played A 45, has got its share of airplay on local airwaves.
While keeping ties with Jamaica is critical for the Wolverhampton-born toaster, Macka B said not many British youth of West Indian heritage are into reggae.
“Not as much as they can be, a lotta dem have on blinkers. Dem don’t realise how powerful reggae is outside of England.”
First-generation Britons of West Indian descent — which included members of bands like Aswad and Steel Pulse — embraced their parents’ culture. Their anti-establishment songs helped make reggae popular in Britain during the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Though racial barriers still exist, Britain is more inclusive than when Macka B and his peers were growing up. The current generation of black Britons identify with a more tolerant society.
“Dem have the attitude of ‘wi cyaan do what wi parents do’ an’ I guess there’s nuthin’ wrong with dat,” he said.
— By Howard Campbell
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