Holness picks favourite artistes, songs

Since getting lessons on how to fling his shoulder from Ding Dong and members of the Ravers Clavers dance crew, Prime Minister Andrew Holness is yet to perfect the dance move.

"That was my first time doing it, and I haven't done it since," Holness said.

"My shoulder is still intact. I'm looking at the dances these days and it's more freestyling than in my day which was more moves. Now it's more freestyling, and I'm not as flexible as I was before. But I really like watching the dancers," Holness said.

The prime minister, who is known for his love of Clarks, has not been far removed from popular culture. In 2015 when he was the Opposition leader, Holness appeared as a guest judge on the Magnum Kings & Queens of Dancehall show. Holness said his love for music has not waned. In an interview with THE STAR at the Prime Minister's Reggae Month Reception at Jamaica House on Tuesday, Holness disclosed that Nesbeth's My Dream is his theme song.

TOP FIVE FAVOURITE

But what of Holness' top five favourite reggae artistes? "Oh, that's easy," he said. "Let's start with Bob Marley, because he's number one on the list. Then we would have to do Dennis Brown, then Beres Hammond."

Minister of Gender, Culture, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange added Chronixx to the list, to the agreement of the prime minister. "You have to consider the younger one now I'm seeing Protoje, Etana and Queen Ifrica," he said.

As for Holness' favourite reggae songs: "There are so many of them! But Bob Marley's Natural Mystic is just such a beautiful song. Redemption Song is another beautiful song. But I like Chronixx and he's had a few hits that have resonated with me. I like his most recent one, 'do it for the love, not for the likes'. Nesbeth's song is great as well. I find that that's my theme song, My Dream."

And his current playlist? "[Likes] is a beautiful song and I listen to that quite often," he said.

As a fan of the music, Holness fully endorsed Reggae Month, and revealed intent to host the reception annually. "The music is a powerful tool for movement. You can use it to move people. We don't use the music enough. Music has to be integrated into our national plan," the prime minister told THE STAR.

"Particularly as it relates to violence; and there are some cultural things that we have to change, and the music is so influential in doing that so Reggae Month should create that opportunity where at least once for the year, all the players and stakeholders should have a discussion or conversation and come to an understanding as to how we can use the music to carry the messages that are so necessary for [the] social transformation."