I-Wayne takes no prisoners with his music, and he is taking none regarding a recent tune recorded by Trinidadian artiste Bunji Garlin about comments he had made about calypso music in an international magazine.
By Germaine SmithI-Wayne, who is THE STAR's featured artiste for this week, said he does not know who Bunji is, and he has not made it a practice to hit out against or to promote calypso music.
"Fi tell yu the truth, I don't even know those guys, and mi no go pon stage go promote calypso or demote calypso or inna no talking bout calypso," he explained.
According to I-Wayne, he was just giving his opinion on something which he is free to do, but it was blown out of proportion.
The heat started after I-Wayne was quoted in an issue of VIBE Magazine earlier this year as saying that calypso was 'devil music' among other things. Bunji, a prominent calypso figure, recorded a track lashing out at I-Wayne's comments but told THE STAR last week that he had nothing against the singer, only his comments.
My opinion
Since that story was printed, however, I-Wayne told THE STAR: "... yu know I-Wayne free fi gi him opinion, and yu have a thing weh name free speech."
He continued: "Yea a slavery thing dem a do it for and dem no waa give yu no free speech, and any boy weh no love it or girl weh no love it a just fire. Anyway, I-Wayne don't know those guys and I not interested."
In the singer's view, if another artiste wanted to dedicate his music towards another act, that was his prerogative, but he will not take it up lyrically.
"We no admire man, and we no do tune bout bwoy. We no sing bout man, so if a bwoy waa go mek a whole album bout man, a fi him business. I-Wayne don't know them and we not interested."
Just last year this time, I-Wayne's Can't Satisfy Her and Living In Love were just beginning to pelt the air waves, stage shows and sessions. Now, the singer, is perched at number 34 on the Billboard charts with Can't Satisfy Her, and has tour dates stacked up for the remainder of this year.
Still laid-back
Looking at him now, however, you couldn't tell. He oozes around in the same laid-back, unassuming manner as he did before he was discovered. Admittedly, he still visits his Cassia Heights farm base, where he plants fruits, as well as chants with his Rastafarian brethren.
"I always deh mongst the farming and a gwaan yaant and plant yu know, some woulda seh chant and plant," he states.
"Yea mi still get fi sew some seed, but probably not as often as one time cause the music yu know get so hectic, but we still sew and still transplant a tree every now and then and balance it cause dat a we joy."
His soaring Billboard status does not bother him either.
"It just show the I seh music without competition, the music have no limit ..," he said
"So dem no fi try limit down life music. Dem a go learn dem lesson, cause music is more than rhyme. Music is more than rhyme. Music is life, mi tell dem dat all the time, but dem tek it fi some little rhyme thing."
