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hard to believe it's been 13 years since i got that phone-call from my bredrin...
'yo yu hear seh garnet silk dead'?!
i was driving at the time and had to pull over...i knew that a great angel had left earth...
but though extremely saddened by the news i still felt fortunate that i had lived to see this bredrin perform his works here on earth...for me garnet silk was a brother, a friend, and to be honest a prophet...
i was a young man new in the ways of rastafari and was only locksed about a year or two when i first consciously heard a garnet silk tune...i'll never forget i was at a bredrin's gates when i heard 'everything i've got'...the singing style, the music, the singer's voice struck a chord so i asked my bredrin who it was...'garnet silk' he replied and then played 'fill us up with your mercy'...this stoked my curiosity because at the time (around 1991 or 1992) gun lyrics & slackness was the order of the day...
soon after i got a whole tape of the silk man and was blown away by the conscious songs singing of rasta love and african redemption...it was as if this dude was talking directly to me and saying the things i felt at the time...soon after i got a video of a show he did in mandeville called 'buju banton & friends' when silk 'mash up di place' with conscious lyrics and good music.
seeing him gave me tremendous inspiration to continue on with the trod even though rasta was not too popular at that time unlike now when every other person seems to be shouting 'rastafari'...no doubt garnet was one of the reasons for that.
garnet left physical essence in december 1994 and i landed in jamaica about two weeks later in january 1995...i felt the vibe of the entire island and being a locks yout i felt a little more love than usual...the first thing i did was go to the ocean and play 'splashing dashing' which was a transcendental experience...
and luciano's 'it's me again jah' was being boomed by the sound men in tribute to garnet....
in 'spashing dashing' he sung 'i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil cause jah is with me'...
yes my yout; you are now at the right hand of the father, and we the younger ones who were inspired by you say give thanks...
you served your purpose...selah;
jaaaahhhhhh!
raaaaaastafari!
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