Less body fat, more phat lyrics

Ricardo Rankine, better known as dancehall artiste Big Pop, is approaching his musical career with renewed energy, fuelled by winning the second season of Television Jamaica's reality weighty loss series, Losing It. The programme pits overweight persons against each other in exercise and dietary challenges.

"When you get a group ah fat people a work out with, mi nah guh feel nuh way inna miself. Even if me come second or third or last, mi still woulda lose some weight," Big Pop told The STAR." If it was me, one fat smaddy and 10 mawga smaddy, meeda shame!" he explained.

According to Big Pop, the entire experience has not only helped his health, but his musical aspirations. In the earlier stages of his career, Big Pop said that he honed his performance skills around three main components lyrics, the pose, and gimmicks.

Deflected comments

"When mi perform on stage shows, I could perform like seven songs straight, but mi cyaa jump and walk around. So mi juss give lyrics, pose, and gimmicks fi mek people tek them eye off me not moving. Now, dis mek me can perform good and guh all over the stage," Big Pop said.

The deejay described a life where he constantly deflected comments from friends and family about his weight. "Mi used to seh ah nuh fat mi fat, ah thick mi ah get thick. Mi always want to lose weight on my own, but mi fraid! People will laugh afta yuh," Big Pop told The STAR. He explained that it was a fear of negative commentary and teasing from the general public of smaller people. "Now, from this thing - Sanjay woulda say, me lose one whole human being!' Big Pop joked. "One of the human being dem come off, at least. One or two lef' fi come off now."

Start workout again

Since winning the competition, Big Pop said that he has been maintaining the changes in his diet. "Mi stop certain food weh mi eat; rice and peas and big burgers and dem sumn deh, mi give dem up. I would order two piece of chicken from KFC, plus a Zinger combo and mi ah whaps everything same time. Right now, mi eat a banana and mi feel full. Mi drink water, mi start workout again. I usually snore very loud and that even cut down. When I would walk to de car and mi breathe short, I used to have to buy pressure pills, whole heap ah pressure pills and now my pressure is down to normal," Big Pop said.

The dancehall artiste believes that people have begun to notice him more since his success at Losing it. "People start look back pon mi now and I start build back mi ting in social media. Young people starting to look up to me. It's changed my profile a whole heap. Anything you see me doing now, ah nuh nuttin foolish. It's not all about gimmicks. You have to put the gimmicks aside and look pon the serious side," Big Pop said. "It blow up my career and do mi good because this make me feel like this is a new me, a new man."

Big Pop is geared up for the preview today of a new single, We Are One, produced by DJ FireWayne and Jamlinks. The single features the vocals of Big Pop, Turbulence, and Singer J, who carries the hook.