WORD Magazine - The Soul of Urban Culture

By Kevin Jackson

Wayne Wonder has found the smash hit that he has long craved. His "Diwali" rhythm inspired tune, "No Letting Go," has found favour with North American music fans, making its way onto major radio playlists. At present, the song is also charting on various Billboard charts.

"The past year was a big career achievement for me. I ventured into a new fan base, broke new ground and got exposed to a wider market," the singer told WORD in a recent interview.

Wonder has experienced many turbulent times in his career. The singer alleged misconduct by various persons who represented him, as well as dishonest and unprofessional practices from industry personnel, during our discussion.

Wonder said at one time he got fed up with the industry, and decided to relocate overseas. He claims to have been ignored by show promoters, including those of major summer and year-end events.

"It's like I don't get any respect at all. I am tired of it. Right now I am being embraced by a wider audience overseas who give me the respect that I have always wanted," Wonder revealed.

Born Von Wayne Charles in Portland, Wonder attended Camperdown High School in East Kingston. After leaving high school, he hooked up with the legendary creator of dub, King Tubby. His first recording was an original number titled "Long and Lasting Love," but it was his cover of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" that caught the public's attention.

"Sanchez and Singing Melody were ruling the dancehall at that time with their cover versions of popular songs. I decided to cover the Rick Astley song. After that I did "Its Over Now" on the "cover me" rhythm, produced by Lloyd Dennis for the Pick Out label."

Shortly afterwards, covers of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car," Gloria Estefan's "Anything For You" and En Vogue's "Hold On" began to simmer in the dancehall, and eventually gave him some attention a radio. Then a cover of Tiffany's "All This Time" became another hit for him.

After these covers, Wonder decided to throw in the towel and concentrate more on his own songwriting. "Since 1994, I haven't recorded any cover versions," he said proudly.

He hooked up with Donovan Germain and the Penthouse label, where he remained until his departure in 1995. During his stint there, he racked up a string of hits, including "Bonafide Love," "Live and Learn" and "Saddest Day."

When former school pal Dave Kelly who worked at Penthouse left the company to start his Madhouse entity, Wayne followed suit, and became part of the Alias Project.

"I left Penthouse because I didn't get the justice that I wanted for my career. I became one of the founding members of the Alias Project. Alias was a collaboration of energies. It wasn't really a crew as most persons thought. It was kept as an underground thing," Wayne explained.

While at Madhouse, Wonder rode the charts on hits such as "Keep it Coming," "Joyride," "Bashment Girl" and "Informer," but in 1999, he parted company with Kelly.

"I was working so hard and wasn't treated the way I wanted to be. I decided to branch off and do my thing," he added.

To date, Wayne has released five albums. His last project was the 2001 disc Schizophrenic. He is now gearing up to release his sixth album, No Holding Back. That disc is due out on March 4 via VP Records/EMI in Canada.

"The album is going to surprise a lot of people. It has 17 tracks and 3 bonus tracks," said Wayne. Featured are Elephant Man, Surprise and Entourage (a group which comprises Showski Ru and Demo Delgado). Among the producers involved are Troyton of Black Shadow Records, Steven "Lenky" Marsden, Tony "CD" Kelly, Leftside and Esco, Teetimus and Don Corleon.

Wonder's life has changed drastically with the success of "No Letting Go." The song spent 7 weeks at #1 on the New York Reggae chart last year and hit the top 10 on Canada's Reggae Mania Top 30, as well as the Jamaican charts.

"I am getting more recognition now, but I have to keep my composure. I am in a different frame of mind, and, realistically, the work has just begun," he added.

"No Letting Go," produced by Stephen "Lenky" Marsden on the diwali rhythm, became a sleeper hit. "A lot of people didn't like the song when it came out. Some people said that they weren't feeling it. They don't know what your heart is feeling or what you went through to write lyrics to a song, before they start criticizing and speculating," Wonder revealed.

Asked how No Holding Back compares to his previous projects, Wayne said "It's everything Wayne Wonder. It's 100% more into vocal and musical arrangement. It's the freedom of Wayne Wonder to express himself. I feel pleased with the outcome."

ager for Wonder's project, VP Records' James Goring, said that the album "is refreshing, and I am very excit

ed about it. It has a lot of original material, and it's basically a fusion of reggae and R&B. I think its his best work to date."

The music video for "No Letting Go" was shot on location in Jamaica in January. It was directed by Toronto-based video director Little X, known for his work on Sean Paul's "Gimmie the Light," Beenie Man's "Girls Dem Sugar" (with Mya) and with Jadakiss and P. Diddy.