Iya Concord carries the spirit of Paul Bogle

Festival song contestant Iya Concord is peeved that there is no statue of national hero Paul Bogle mounted in Morant Bay, St Thomas.

The frustration formed the basis for his militant song Hero Fight, which has emerged as one of the clear favourites in this year's Festival Song competition.

"The main reason why I wrote the song is that one day, I was in Morant Bay walking down by the police station to the courthouse, and I saw no Paul Bogle statue, and if you check every parish, dem have dem statue. And in St Thomas, we don't have a hero to represent the struggle. Everybody a sing about ackee and salt fish, nobody nah represent the hero dem, so I made it my point of duty to do a song to remember Nanny, Bustamante, Marcus Garvey, Paul Bogle, and a dem fight for we," he said.

The Paul Bogle statue was damaged in 2009 by a mentallyill man and was removed by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) for restoration. In March 2010, intense public resistance in Morant Bay forced the Trust to call off the remounting of the statue. The objection to the work of art was rooted in the residents' claim, which was corroborated by the JNHT, that the statue was not a true replica of the national hero.

Iya Concord believes that the ensuing debate is the reason the Hero Fight song has resonated with many Jamaicans.

"With my song, I bring back the hero dem, I bring back the memories. in St Thomas, where I am from, they said that the hero that was there, it was the wrong person all this time. they found out and take it down, so there is no more statues. And that's a shame. After the hero do so much for we, they carry false statue in St Thomas. the hero dem fight very hard so we can enjoy we yard. The song is doing well; everywhere mi go, the 14 parish, from foreign dem call say this is the festival song for 2019," he said.

Jason 'Iya Concord' Wright's musical journey began at the age of 11. Wright's passion for music intensified after he graduated from Yallahs High School and experienced his first performance gig. He went on to perform at stage shows, concerts, and national events, namely the Tastee Talent Show. Based on his high-energy performances, he was booked to perform at Sting 2006, 2008, and 2011, further developing his skills as a performer. He has also performed at East Fest.

This is Iya Concord's first entry in the Festival Song competition.

"I am coming to take the title, mi swear fi it. mi nah let down Paul Bogle, mi a come fi the crowd," Iya Concord said.