AceGawd mourns loss of his dad

Although some of dancehall artiste Ace Gawd's songs are not fit for airplay because of their lyrical content, his father, Clifford McLarty, did not shy away from posting them on his WhatsApp status.

According to the entertainer, his dad was just extremely proud of his musical growth.

"Some of the songs are explicit, but he would post them same way and never care who was in his contacts seeing it. He loved his old-time music, like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh songs, but mi can say I was his favourite dancehall artiste," AceGawd said.

Unfortunately, McLarty will not get a chance to see his son reach his musical peak, as he passed away on September 11 following a brief illness. As expected, AceGawd is still devastated.

"Naturally, he is missed, and I am still grieving as he was a very good father. He was one of my biggest supporters and not just me, but all of his three children. We all love him, even in death," AceGawd said.

McLarty, who hailed from Porus in Manchester, was a security officer with the Guardsman Group. He was buried on a family plot in St Toolies in the parish on October 22.

AceGawd stressed that McLarty was a dedicated father who often offered words of encouragement and even taught him many things.

"When I was small, he would teach me how to drive, and he always talk to me about the importance of being patient. Him always tell mi to go for mi goals and go fi anything weh mi want," he said.

AceGawd, given name Sadeki McLarty, said that he and his dad had plans to travel.

"My father travelled all the time but we never travelled together, so we were planning to visit my sister in Canada before the year ends," he said.

With Christmas Day being less than two weeks away, the entertainer recalled how he usually spent the holidays.

"We were like the average Jamaican family during Christmas, and if him was alive this year, we would do the same thing. We would have we sorrel, cake, and the family would get together and cook and just chill back. We never really go out or do anything special. We just chill with each other," the entertainer said.

Despite the loss, AceGawd is putting the final touches to his debut album, titled Awake at 3am. Slated to be released in January, the seven-track project features songs like Sad Truth and Inevitable, which is a collaboration with Zamunda.

"This album will show how versatile I am. The name of the album, Awake at 3am, has to do with having thoughts those time of the morning that you wouldn't have during the day. It's a time when people medz deep, so that's how some of the songs were made. I am hoping that everyone will like it and it will help give me more exposure," he said.