Considered one of the dancehall’s great innovators, Lieutenant Stitchie has made a reputation being a fast-chatting toaster on songs like Wear Yuh Size and Natty Dreadlocks. Yet, he was at a loss for words when news reached him that he will be awarded the Order of Distinction by Jamaica’s government.
The veteran deejay is scheduled to receive the award in October during the country’s annual National Honours and Awards ceremony in Kingston.
“I don’t know how to express it; it’s really a humbling feeling,” he said. “Thanks to the prime minister (Andrew Holness), the people who have supported me over the years and even my detractors.”
Lieutenant Stitchie (aka the Reverend Cleve Laing) has established himself in the secular and gospel fields. He converted to Christianity in the late 1990’s after a stellar career in the dancehall, and was at one stage signed to Atlantic Records for which he did three albums.
For all the acclaim he has had as a lyricist with songs like Bun it Down and Hello Carol, the 56 year-old artist says he is guided by an adage he first learned as a boy in Sunday School.
“It says, ‘Do all the good that you can to all the people you can in all the ways you can just as long you can’. You can’t go wrong if you follow that. Trust mi!”
From Spanish Town on the outskirts of Jamaica’s capital Kingston, Lieutenant Stitchie earned his stripes on his hometown’s sound system circuit during the early 1980’s. He broke through in 1986 with the humorous Wear Yuh Size which went to the top of Jamaican charts. The follow-up, Natty Dread, was just as successful.
It was while on a visit to Jamaica in 1987 that Clinton Lindsay, then a leading Disc Jockey and show promoter in New York, first met the deejay. He was impressed by the emerging artist’s display at a sound clash in Spanish Town and brought him and the Stereo One sound system to New York.
“I was struck by his highly intelligent and well-structured, humorous lyrics, and over the years I’ve learned to appreciate his ambitious drive to achieve and stay on top of his game,” said Lindsay, who is principal of the Foundation Radio Network. “His work ethic should be desirable by many of his peers.”
Since his conversion to Christianity, Lieutenant Stitchie has recorded 10 gospel albums, the last being Masterclass which was released in 2019. He became an ordained minister of religion in 2004, but no matter what awards he has received in the past, nothing compares to the OD.
“What could outshine this? To be honored by your country?” he asked, before answering: “Nothing.”
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