Signs Of The Time singer tempted to do Reggae
Christians are not without their temptations. Sometimes the call of the secular world is loud and booming.
But Garfield Reid, by the encouragement of a few in the gospel music fraternity, has chosen to close his ears and stay on the path of righteousness.
“There’s a lot of politics within gospel music,” Reid revealed to THE WEEKEND STAR.
“Sometimes, it’s not all it’s summed up to be,” the artist said dejectedly.
Reid’s career began when he won the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Gospel Song Festival in 2007 with the song Signs Of The Time.
In 2010, he released his debut album, Survivor, which featured well-known gospel music artists Goddy Goddy, DJ Nicholas and Minister Blessed.
“In 2012, I was featured on Goddy Goddy album called Next Dimension, on the song Fill My Truck Lord.
ALBUM FEATURE
That same year, Reid was featured on Minister Blessed’s album, Keep Pressing On, on a song of the same title. The young artist was experiencing some success in these early years.
However, he took a two-year break from music in 2013 and 2014 to focus on his marriage.
“I came back in 2015 with a track called Victory Medley,” he said.
But hopping right back into the fray of the gospel music industry hasn’t gone as smoothly as the young singer would have liked.
“There’s a lot of a politics on the inside, and one can become very frustrated due to the politics,” Reid said.
He said that there are certain barriers to entry that have been imposed by veterans in the industry who appear bent on keeping out younger voices. “I have thought about secular music,” he confessed.
“Because I just felt like there was – How do I put it?” Reid faltered for about a minute, trying to find the fairest way to express his disappointment with ageism in the gospel music industry.
“There is not an avenue in gospel music to allow younger artists to grow. No opportunity for them to grow. Even though we would say that is the job of the artiste or his manager, but sometimes the artiste and manager can do so much and no more, unless given the opportunities,” the gospel artist told THE WEEKEND STAR.
Despite his frustrations with industry veterans, the artist released another single by the name of Heal Our Land last weekend, a worship song based on the scripture verse 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 7, verse 14.
“The word that everyone uses to describe the song is ‘timely’,” Reid said.
When asked what kind of music he would do if he ever gave in to the temptations of secular music, he said it would “definitely be reggae music”.
He said he has been told a number of times that he sounds a bit like the legendary Beres Hammond.
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