he may have been raised in a caribbean ghetto but chabarance knew his love and talent for music
would get him out and allow him to live the life of his dreams then one day in a matter of minutes
what he said during an interview would destroy everything he had worked for and leave his future
very uncertain jamaican dance hall artist rexton ralston fernando gordon professionally known as
chabarangs was born in sturgetown in the parish of saint anne in pursuit of better opportunities
his parents moved and ultimately settled in the capital city of kingston when he was eight years
old shabba developed a passion for music at a young age and worked on his craft as much as
he could by the time he was in his early teens he would have a defining experience that would change
his life his brother-in-law invited him to work as a bottle collector during an event featuring
up-and-coming artist josie wales instead of doing his job shaba found himself glued to the stage
watching josie perform he was overtaken by the magic of music soon shabba would devote himself
entirely to the pursuit of his own career in music as it turned out he would have all the time in
the world to focus after getting kicked out of his high school cause he's a troublemaker still that's
it okay yeah i'll know me before being famous know me as a troublemaker say aruba no men are rude
confessed many years later that because of the mark that was placed on him as a young child in
the ghetto he never expected to live past the age of 18. he would actually have visions of death and
nightmares of prison it even became a reality for some of his friends as his career evolved
he made it a point to speak to the younger generation mainly the ones being raised in the
same environment he was and let them know that they're bigger than what little value another
person chooses to place on them shabba though had a different mentality than a lot of his friends
and other people could see it as well including josie wales josie came across shabba one day
hanging out with his friends pulled him aside and gave him some words of wisdom about the company he
was keeping he also invited shabba to come to the recording studio he was going to the following day
at that point shabba had only ever seen the inside of a studio once he was so excited about
the experience he couldn't sleep that night the studio ended up being one of the biggest recording
studios in the country at the time josie vouched for shabba's talent to none other than super
producer king jammy jemmy decided to take a chance on him and offered 16 year old shabba a job as a
dj his original stage name was co-pilot and it was under this name that he cut his first single
heat under sufferer's feet in 1985. soon after he changed his name to shabarang
shaba's debut album rapping with the ladies was released in 1988 on a small independent label
out of queens new york he released several more albums on the same label over the next few years
that many people outside of the caribbean may not know very well but one song in particular called
dembao off his second album titled just reality would provide the foundation to a future popular
music style the rhythm used on the track became the defining characteristic
of puerto rican reggaeton earlier simply referred to as dembal shaba's ladies man image
signature gumby haircut flowing suits manicured eyebrows and gold jewelry made him stand out
from a visual angle but it was his deep vocals alongside some trendy rhythms and catchy hooks
that led to a major label deal in the us with epic records his first project for his new label would
be 1991's as raw as ever it was his first album to be well received by critics as well as the public
and contained the hit singles trailer load of girls and house call featuring british
jamaican reggae artist maxie priest shaba was also rewarded with his first grammy for best
reggae album the very next year shabba would do it all again drop a very successful album
and have it win him another granny 1992's extra naked also contained the popular songs tingling
slow and sexy featuring american r b singer johnny gill and the reggae fusion smash mr lover man
this one in particular would go on to become his biggest hit outside of jamaica
fans of shabba from the beginning of his career will recognize the song from his first album
it was a recut from a song initially released as champion lover on british guyanese artist deborah
glasgow's debut album sadly deborah passed away at the age of 29 after a battle with lymphoma so
shabba decided to re-record the tune this time with chevelle franklin as the featured singer
as high as shabba was riding in his career that year he would also experience a major low
right at the end in december he did an interview that many would attribute to derailing his career
and changing dancehall during an appearance on british tv network channel 4 music show the word
he was asked to give his thoughts on the subject of the hit song boom bye bye bye
fellow jamaican dance hall artist buchu banten the song stirred up a lot of controversy and was
already labeled as a hate song by the gay and lesbian alliance against defamation or glaad
co-signed buju's sentiments in the song saying if someone forfeits the word of god
they deserve crucifixion he added that he lived by the concept of the good book
and it states that man should multiply and that multiplication is done by a male and a female
he was condemned for his comments by presenter mark lamar those comments caused outrage around
the world and the fallout was swift and brutal he was dropped from a bobby brown tour and in the uk
the following year he was forced to pull out of a festival after press reports were released of
police labeling him a troublemaker several months later shabba released the following statement
in retrospect i now realize that the comments were a mistake because they advocated violence towards
gay men and lesbians i regret having made such statements i do not approve of any act of violence
against gay men and lesbians or any other human beings gay bashing is wrong unfortunately the
fallout wasn't just centered around shava the entire genre of dancehall got caught up too
many artists were having their shows cancelled and getting dropped from their labels
visas and work permits were also cancelled or not granted at all promoters weren't interested in
working with certain artists unless there was a signed agreement in place barring them from
performing certain songs not surprisingly his next couple of albums only received average reviews
and the following year shaba was dropped from his label now seemed as good a time as any to
take an indefinite hiatus so shabba did just that he spent his time focused on his family and
eventually moved from jamaica to the u.s naturally shabba felt ready to take on the music world again
after his children were much older he released a comeback single of sorts with the track
nunadam in april 2011. shabba and his wife michelle whom he married in 1992 share two sons
and continue to reside in new york city in a 2012 interview with jamaican entertainment
news and current affairs channel on stage shabba spoke fondly of his relationship with his wife
and sons host winford williams even commented how unusual it was for a dance hall artist to
have maintained a long-term marriage as well as have all his children with only one woman
shabba gave all the praise to his parents and how they raised him he grew up in a home where he saw
his father come home every night to his mother and how he treated her so he always wanted to
have that same dynamic in his own family shabamata returned to his country after a decade away to
participate in sumfest the largest music festival in jamaica and the caribbean for their 20th
anniversary celebration shabba's been very vocal about his disappointment with the evolution of the
jamaican dance hall music scene he's well aware of how cutthroat and crabs in a barrel like artists
that have come up after him behave towards each other he's also touched on why despite urging from
his fans he hasn't put out much music over the years because i cannot just release records also
free issues i am i don't care what they say about this man mean a businessman i am a businessman
and us from this part of the world treat our music like it's not business yeah where you
do your song and you give it to our manager i'm going to sell your music i'm reach out for your
music i did that for too many years gone by now is the time where me must reap off of my music
if anybody within this world want to distribute some shaba music they might be called shabbat
in 2013 american tv channel bet asked shabba to be part of their reggae and dance hall tribute
scheduled to be included in their awards show taking place that summer many other artists such
as dawn penn shakodemas and pliers beanie man and elephant man made the trip to la to bring
the house down shabba however was nowhere to be found he would later say that even though he did
already have a prior engagement schedule he still inquired about how the event would be organized he
easily came to the decision to not perform after being told that he would have to share the stage
with four or five other people at once and also not get the opportunity to walk the red carpet
it's always been important to shabba to represent dancehall to the best of his abilities and he felt
that bet was taking that away from him he also spoke about how it's always been bet's style
to put the genre in a little corner and pull it out whenever they felt like it
interestingly enough fellow jamaican dancehall artist patra expressed similar feelings on
why she also chose not to participate in the show when asked about regrets
shabba has said that he only has one when doing business putting his trust in people
that he thought had his back but were really setting him up to stab him in it
shabba continues to write and record even if no one else hears it and his worldwide
influence is undeniable and he's always expressed love to those who've shown him love
throughout his career including american hip-hop artist asap ferg for his 2013 track
featuring asap rocky appropriately titled shabba he also made a cameo in the music video
shabba has also received numerous honors including the order of distinction in 2016 presented at the
governor general's house in kingston for his contribution to music and the heritage award
recognizing outstanding and dedicated service by individuals and businesses to the jamaican
community from the consulate general of jamaica in new york city in 2021. earlier this year shaba
gave his mother who passed away at the age of 81 in february a heartfelt and passionate graveside
speech that tugged at everyone's heartstrings he proclaimed that she taught him to love god
and how to strive to survive she was also the one to encourage him to continue his pursuit of music
when everyone else was telling him he would never make it shabba concluded with a mention of how his
love for his mother set the presidents for him to love his wife my mother is my first girlfriend so
she taught me how to love my wife people i love you god bless you all thank you for your support
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