All Interviews

Who is Wayne Wonder?

Laura Gardner: How did your nickname come about?

Wayne Wonder: Well, Wonder [pause]. I am a conservative type of person, so sometimes when I’m chilling with myself, people always come ask me, "What’s wrong with you? What are you wondering about?" People call me Wayne Wonder and it also goes back to football [soccer] because I could do mad skills with the ball and people would marvel and wonder how I could do it.

LG: Really? Do you think you could have become a football player instead of a singer?

WW: If I wasn’t singing, I’d sure be a Reggae Boy! [laughs]

LG: Nice! How did you link up with [producers Dave and Tony] the Kellys?

WW: Actually my first encounter with a Kelly was not on a musical scale. It was from primary school. Dave and I went to primary school together and we were like boy scouts. That’s where we made the link, but musically, we didn’t link up until ’87. We were all excited to work together.

LG: Dave’s very talented as well. Where do you get your ideas for song lyrics?

WW: Well, it varies, you know? On an original level, my songs come from my experience and my friends’ experience. It’s always a live experience–anything that happens around you. It’s so easy to just put it to a song. It’s so easy [laughs]!

LG: Do you see your lyrics as giving the fans what they want to hear or do you believe in what you’re singing about?

WW: Anything I sing is supposed to be genuine. It’s not supposed to be make-believe or I’m making something for the crowd to jump or to hold up their hands. What I say is from my heart. You must be sincere. So when I sing a song, people are supposed to feel it.

LG: There are a lot of dancehall songs nowadays bashing the battyman [gay people]. Capleton, Bounty Killer and Buju Banton have gotten flack for it. Do you think this is a trend in the music or do you think it’s a foundation of the music?

WW: No, I wouldn’t say foundation. We all know what the Bible says. But then again, Buju Banton did "Boom Bye Bye," and that was then. I don’t think anybody can ever come with more homophobic lyrics to hit the market than that.

LG: Well, "Keep Forgetting" is pretty strong! [Lyrics go: You keep forgetting: fassys we nah friend.]

WW: [laughs] Ha! Well, "Keep Forgetting" is directed towards haters. I use fassy to mean lesion of the skin, or sore. I use it to mean something or someone that I don’t want to be around: people that are corrupt, you know? I don’t want to be around fassys: people that hate you if you’re trying to move up, people who bring you down when you’re moving up or people who criticize your creative work when you put it out. That’s what I’m talking about when I say fassy.

LG: So you don’t equate it with the battyman?

WW: No, no, no.

LG: I know you have a reputation with the ladies. How do you react to your image as a heartthrob?

WW: Having been around it over the years, I have more control now. I’m learning how to deal with people better. I’m learning not to let the ego get the best of you! People like people, you know? Wayne Wonder is a down-to-earth type of person, so people can always approach me. They are not scared to say, "Yo Wayne! How are you doing?" …That’s me, man--I’m a lover not a fighter.

LG: Luciano has a song on his latest album called "Ulterior Motives" about people getting close for reasons other than for who you are. Do you come across that frequently?

WW: Yes, definitely. You’re always going to find that. My grandmother always told me you must keep to your old roads and stick to your original friends and just go through smooth, be careful and stay positive.

LG: You were one of the first people to sing in patois. Why did you decide to do that?

WW: No, let me tell you how it came about. It’s so easy for me to write collaboration lyrics for a DJ and a singing sound. When I first did "Sweet and Sour" there were no Jamaican singers swinging it that way. Then when I came with it, I started to hear everybody. But I know it is a form of creativeness. Just how I used to listen to songs and cover them, I know musicians have to motivate other musicians, so I don’t find that threatening or offensive. But there is an energy when a singer and a DJ come together, like when Buju Banton and Wayne Wonder hooked up I sang this smooth melody and the DJ came in with his rough vibe. What I did now was I didn’t really come and sing it like a DJ, but I put more melody to it… It sounds like I’m DJ-ing but it’s milder. It’s really an experiment proven to be successful.