Jamaican acclaimed international reggae singer and entertainer, Gramps Morgan, said he was delighted to hold his new album release party in Anguilla at DaVida Restaurant at Crocus Bay on Sunday night, May 27.
The event attracted a mammoth crowd from throughout the island, many persons having had the opportunity to see him performing when he was inAnguillafor Moonsplash in March this year.
“So many people asked me whether I was having a release party inAnguillaand I said yeah,” he told The Anguillian. “They asked why Anguilla, and I said to them: why notAnguilla? It is justenergy in me for this place and I feel a certain connection with my ancestors. And when I researched the history of this land, it is rightfully so…There is a certain amount of sternness and Africanism in this country which I love. I visitAfricavery often and I feel at home. I definitely feel that same energy inJamaicaandDominica. When I started the album, and even when I did Moonsplash, I said I would love to come back here and launch my album. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but Digicel came on board, and was very supportive, and it happened.”
His album comprises thirteen songs under the title “Reggae Music Lives.” Included in the album is India Irie an R&B songstress from theUnited Stateswho was featured on his previous album. “This time it is not a love song. It is a culture song talking about the calling ofAfrica,” he went on. “It is calling us and we have to make this move soon beforeBabyloncharges us, especially in the Western countries…”
Morgan described his album launches as “up and close personal energy when you can come with fans, take pictures, sit down and talk and ask questions you wouldn’t have a chance to do because normally this doesn’t happen.” He stated: “I have had album launches before and it is a wonderful feeling. Doing this with my team is like a treat for my fans because you don’t expect a reggae artiste fromJamaicato do his album launch especially in theCaribbean. You would expect this to be done in theUnited States,LondonandParis.
“So I am just showing my fans inAnguillamy appreciation and love for them. I love the people ofAnguilla. I love them, love them. It is family.”
Morgan further said: “I would love to become an ambassador of this country in whatever shape or form that can happen. I would love to help the Government in developing a youth programme musically. When it comes to music, and knowing that the children want to do it, but they don’t know how to start…, I would love to even assist in building a facility here inAnguillawhere the youths have something to do. I have children myself and I believe that when children find idle time, they get in trouble and idleness in the devil’s playground.
“So I would like to assist anyone in this country to develop a programme in which the children can express themselves musically, and I can give my experience and say either you have it, or you don’t have it, because sometimes a lot of people just dream and jump up to do something. You can’t be a fisherman for 25 years of your life and all of a sudden jump up and say you want to be a singer. It doesn’t work like that. You have to be realistic.
“So while I would love to assist this country, I would listen to the voices of the kids and then say to some of them: ‘Listen, I believe you need to stay in school. I don’t believe that you have it.’ I did that with my own kids. I only heard two of them singing. I believe one of them is going to be a great artiste, by the time he is 21, and will have something to offer to the world musically. Another of them is just brilliant … and I said to him: ‘I don’t think I want you to sing one note. You must become a doctor or a lawyer or somebody else who could be of assistance to society and to the family.’
When he first visited the island, Cramps Morgan was a guest at Viceroy. This time he stayed at Zada Escape, a newly-built villa at Little Harbour, owned by Anguillian Oden Smith.
