Morgan Heritage gives Beres Hammond his ‘flowers’ - Gramps says icon changed the group’s momentum

At the inaugural Caribbean Music Awards held recently at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, veteran reggae singer Beres Hammond was honoured with the Elite Icon Award, which was presented by the members of Morgan Heritage.

For the group, it was a moment which they cherished, particularly owing to the impact that the reggae icon has had on their own careers, starting with a single which Morgan Heritage released in 2002, all because of Hammond.

"Beres Hammond means so much to me and my family ... he's truly an icon. He literally changed the momentum of Morgan Heritage's career many years ago when he was speaking to us one day at his home in Kingston, Jamaica, and asked when are we going to do a love song," Gramps Morgan shared.

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A few months after that conversation, the sibling group got together and wrote a song that is now one of the acknowledged classics in their repertoire -- She's Still Loving Me.

"It was one of the best pieces of advice we could ever get from an artiste, and we are forever grateful to Beres Hammond for that. He is truly an icon when it comes to reggae music, and continues to serve his purpose. To be given the opportunity to present a lifetime achievement award to him ... we were so honoured ...they could've chosen anyone, but I'm happy that the organisation chose us," Gramps added.

Continuing to pay homage to Hammond, Gramps shared that it was a moment in history that will never be forgotten by his family, and the people who support reggae and dancehall music.

Gramps, who had kind words to say about the organisers of the Caribbean Music Festival, also made a case for more support for reggae and dancehall music from within Jamaica.

He noted that it is time for Jamaica to "start supporting our own and push forward ... especially buying music from the artistes [in] the way Latin artistes support their own".

At the recent launch of Beenie Man's album, Simma, broadcaster Richie B made a similar statement. He appealed to the fans for more tangible support for reggae and dancehall music by asking those in attendance to make a pledge to support artistes and musicians by "buying some music".

Gramps, who was one of the performers at the August 27 Chris Brown and Friends concert at the National Stadium, also shared a bit of that experience.

"I didn't really have any expectations. I know what I wanted to accomplish, and it was just to touch the soul of the audience that was there and discover and create new a Gramps Morgan. It was great to sing on an amazing system and hear my engineer do an amazing job at what he does. I also really enjoyed Ding Dong's performance ... and to see the production that the promoter brought down to Jamaica truly was amazing," he said.

He noted that there has been an appreciable spike in his social media numbers since performing on the concert, but admitted that he had not checked to see if there was a similar traction in his streaming numbers.