Sister Nancy

INTERVIEW SISTER NANCY JH SOJO 11/2006

Sojo: Blessings Sister Nancy! Sister Nancy: “Greetings!”

First and foremost, welcome here in Belgium.

Sister Nancy: “Yeah, it’s my first time!”

Sojo: How has your stay in Belgium been so far?

Sister Nancy: enjoyed it. I lost my voice because I was working in the studio since eleven o’clock this morning.”

Sojo: Why did we have to wait until now to get you to come over here?

Sister Nancy: “I don’t know. I should have been here about four years ago and even before, but it never happened. I guess now was the right time. Nothing ever happens before its time.”

Sojo: You’re always cited as being the first female deejay from Jamaica…

Sister Nancy: “That’s correct. I was the first one, the one who started it all.”

Sojo:Did you have any roll models to look up to then, being the first woman to take up the trade so to speak?

Sister Nancy: “Yes I did; my brother Brigadier Jerry. He was my motivator ever since I started at the age of fifteen. That’s 30 years ago now. I saw him do it and going to school one day, I told myself: “Hey, that’s something I would like to do to!””

Sojo:When you started out, were you an immediate hit in Jamaica?

Sister Nancy: “No, but nobody really is. You have to allow yourself to grow and learn how to please the Jamaican audience. It took a long time for me, because my voice was really fragile when I started out. You can still hear that one the ‘One, Two’ album. Today my voice has matured a lot. At first I wasn’t really accepted, but after about two years I got into it.”

Sojo: Off course we can’t leave out talking about one specific tune. You had many hits, but none of the calibre of ‘Bam Bam’. When you did the tune, did you see that coming in any way?

Sister Nancy: “No! I never wrote ‘Bam Bam’, I just had the idea to do ‘Bam Bam’. I wrote the rest of the tunes for the ‘One, Two’ album, but I didn’t have enough tracks to complete the album. I only had nine tunes, so I needed a tenth. I heard Yellowman do a version of ‘Bam Bam’ and thought to myself: “Well, I might just as well give that a try to!” It’s been haunting me for 25 years now!”

Sojo: What do you think the secret of that song is?

Sister Nancy: “I think it’s just a damn classic hit! You can’t say anything about it. It’s just ‘Bam Bam’! Anywhere in the world that I go, that’s what they want to hear.”

Sojo: I heard more then enough Rastafari references in your act tonight. When did Rastafari find you?

Sister Nancy: “Rastafari is an inborn concept, but you have to look for it to find it. For me it was around the age of 18 and I’ve upheld it to this day.”

Sojo: Does that also mean that you stay true to conscious lyrics? You wouldn’t write or sing a slackness tune for example?

Sister Nancy: “No I would never ever talk slack! Culture must stay on top always! I truly believe in that. It’s the best thing for me and for the kids as well. At least this way they can learn something. But nothing good can come out off slackness. It’s exactly that what’s mashing up the business right now. I don’t like it at all.”

Sojo: As a female veteran is there anyone of the new generation of female artists that you have your eye on, that you particularly like?

Sister Nancy: “Well, I really like all of them. They’re good and there are doing what they do to best of their abilities. I like all of them, but most of them I wouldn’t work with. There are some exceptions though…”

Sojo: Apart from the ‘One, Two’ album there’s no Sister Nancy albums out there. Is there anything we can look out for in the near future?

Sister Nancy: “I haven’t recorded an album for more then a decade, but I’m in the studio now, working with Sister Carol and Lady Ann. We’ve got a new single on the market called ‘Informer’ and we’re working on a full album. I’m sure it will be a good one because it features three of the best female deejays ever!”

Sojo: To end off with, do you have any message for your Belgian fans?

Sister Nancy: “Keep staying with me and I’ll be there just as long as you want me. The more you live is the more you learn and good things come to those who wait! Keep the faith and do good things. For the kids: stay in school! And for the grown-ups: just be good to yourselves and each other. Rastafari live! Selassie I!”