In 2001 Junior Kelly burst onto the musical landscape with his catchy tune, Love So Nice. Since then, the song has been a must-perform in his repertoire, 18 years after its release.
Due to a rigorous international touring schedule, the singer rarely performs in Jamaica these days. He, however, was on night one of the two-day reggae festival Rebel Salute, which wrapped just over a week ago at Grizzly’s Plantation Cover in Priory, St Ann, located on Jamaica’s north coast.
The artiste is proud of the longevity of Love So Nice, and stated that he would not have wanted it any other way.
“Anybody can get a number one song with the right amount of push behind it, capital and all of that — we know how the music business works. But a lot of artistes go through their whole lifetime, regrettably, without a song that is ageless and timeless. So I would prefer to have timeless songs rather than number one songs; so I see it as a blessing and an honour to be part of that elite. The truth is mi caan force my way up deh… whether through buying it or other mean; mi caan force di people dem to love it. So it has to be organic and it just so happens that Love So Nice is one of dem organic songs — and I’m humbled by the fact that I am now pon da level deh, because there are a lot of current artistes with nuff money and nuff hit songs and really don’t have a song that keeps getting better with time,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
Kelly remembers the time and place he was when inspired to write what has been his most popular track.
The lanky singer recalled living in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1999 when a domestic altercation between a couple who lived in the apartment building in which he was staying sparked the refrain: “…If love so nice, why does it hurt so bad”.
Kelly would later pen and record the track which has become a staple in his repertoire.
— Richard Johnson
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