PREFACE (lol…seriously)
It’s
amazing how the time to write blog posts comes around so sporadically these
days. Absolutely nothing can be going on for a while and then POW! You get
pricked by the pen of inspiration! Not inspiration like the Bible (duuuuh), but
a sudden urge to write J. Why do I even mention this? Well, to tell you the truth, this blog
post should have been written MONTHS AGO! From as far back as September to be
precise, but I just could never find the time, nor the drive to put the words together
until now. After what just happened? I have to write about this now**. The power of Tessanne compels me!
**I wrote
most of this on Wednesday, Dec 18, 2013 between 1:30 to about 3:30p.m. with
some editing afterwards at about 1:30am Thursday.
I actually
had a few jottings—well—exactly 3 lines (all completely unrelated to each
other), of things I was going to highlight in this post. At the time—in
September as I told you—the Voice was just kicking off, and Tessanne Chin was
just beginning her journey of awesomeness and “Bread n Butta”-ness. She was the
last point I had in mind to mention for this post, but with her recent victory
on NBC’s “The Voice” mi haffi talk
bout Chinita good body [voice] first!
Let me
just say first of all, that I am EXCEEDINGLY
GLAD that the competition is over now. It’s not because I didn’t want to
hear Tess—who still owes me a performance of an Adele song, and a rendition of
“O Holy Night” (really only because I think she would nail them)—because I did
want to hear her; it’s not because I saved money on car insurance (I actually
have Geico for real :D), or because I’m #TeamBadmindMichaelCuffe, I promise is
not dat! So “why Alwayne?” you may ask.
Weeeell,
the schedulers of my evening job, (which I am glad for because a guy’s got
bills and a family—as in my father’s family, you know, due to how I am wifeless
and childless still…) they decided to schedule me to work for four (4)
consecutive Monday nights, and three (3) consecutive Tuesday nights right up
until the final (which I still haven’t seen)! So you know what that meant? NO
VOICE FOR ALWAYNE! NOT EVEN THE RESULTS SHOW! And because of the hours I work
(8:00a.m.-4:30p.m., then 5pm-12:00am) I had no time to even watch the episodes
online! Mi did cussid grieve! Gotta tell my sister thanks for waiting up for me
to get home in the nights and showing me the performances, or else I wouldn’t
have a clue what was going on. Now that it’s over, and my Jamaican girl has
won, I can rest easy and work relatively happily again, knowing I’m no longer missing
anything. I still blame adulthood and responsibilities though.
*****
Chapter Only…
(I’ll give you a minute to get that.)
As the curtains on Season 5
of NBC’s “The Voice” closed with our
Jamaican diva and Superstar Tessanne Chin being crowned champion, a nation has
been filled with extreme pride and jubilation at the success of our own
countrywoman. Watching her carry herself humbly and gracefully with her
patriotic air, we cannot help but be proud. Whether we were fans before The Voice or we have just made ourselves
honorary members of #TeamTessanne, as a country we have the right to be happy
for her huge accomplishment. Since most people have posted all the clever stuff
relating to her victory over Twitter, Facebook, and even this awesome poem in the
Jamaica Observer, I won’t dwell on it anymore, but I’ll just say
CONGRATULATIONS TESSANNE! I LOVE YOU! Thanks for replying to my tweet that one
time and all the best for the future Miss Superstar! Since you probably will
never see this, I’ll just pretend you actually read my blog and you told me
thank you ^_^
You’re very welcome Tess-Tess J
*****
Now to
the issue at hand: Fixing Brand Jamaica.
Can it
ever really be fixed though? Does the Jamaican government want it to be fixed?
Does the country on a whole want it to be fixed? What is being done to fix it,
outside of individual brilliance that we all piggy back on by the literal and
proverbial Tessannes, Usains and Shelly-Anns out there?
There are
quite a few countries making money from ‘Brand Jamaica’ to the country’s detriment,
and nobody’s doing anything about it. OR, if anything is being done, I just
haven’t heard about it yet— blame my work schedule. If you know what’s
happening to combat the problem though, feel free to inform me where I’m
misinformed. But seriously, I know there’s been a lot of talk, and you could
even say I’m just talking too, but it’s my blog, and I’m not getting paid for
it (YET!) so I can talk and say what I want; but for the folks who ARE getting
paid to fix it, what in Portia’s name is going on? You know what? Don’t even
answer that. Mind sharp it guh get tax too.
Are we
(Jamaicans) getting paid for them? I highly doubt that.
I remember when I was working in news, Jamaica’s
Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke made a presentation in parliament on how
other countries have been branding some other counterfeit from ‘woi woi’(wherever
that is) as the well loved and extremely popular Blue Mountain Coffee. Who’s being punished or held accountable for this?
Don’t worry; I’ll be right here when you find out.
 |
| You know seh your consumption went up after she said it! |
What’s my point in all this? Well, brethren and
friends, this little island Jamaica, a little island of 2.7 million people, has
become such a global force in anything
its citizens put hard work into that it took only one, in the form of a
Tessanne Chin to come to America, a land of about 315 million people, and win The Voice. Her involvement probably made
this the most watched season ever
thus far, as not only Jamaicans in the country and the Diaspora watched, but
other Caribbean nationals tuned in to see her. As a Jamaican living in America,
it was refreshing to see how a competition which caters mainly to Americans (as
evident by limited voting methods and restrictions to those outside America)
could be taken over by our small country because of one person. And sure
enough, true to the stereotype that Jamaicans will always find a way to
circumvent the system, most of the ones outside America found a way to vote
anyway. Don’t even let me mention how Tessanne’s innocent use of the term ‘Bread n
butta’ became her popular internet tag line used by her supporters. Not to brag or anything—even though she is clearly the BestTess—but it just goes to show how talented our people are. This little dot on the map has the world 100 and 200 metre champions—male and female. A legend like Bob Marley is known and revered in
musical circles everywhere! For crying out loud, a packet of Grace Cock Soup
was just on The Tonight Show hosted by Jay Leno! That’s HUGE! A little fun
fact: If you divide the U.S. population by Jamaica’s population, it would take
116+ Islands of Jamaica to populate the U.S.A. Imagine that!
Look at
how one songbird united a nation to watch a programme most of its people would
scoff at! Look at how she caused many a person to lose precious sleep, just so
they could watch her shine. Look at how many became marketers and promoters for
their countrywoman to their friends and family living abroad! Look at how much
joy a nation possesses now that she has been decided the winner; as she is now
(and always has been), “The Voice”! I
hope Captain’s Bakery and all the other bread companies in Jamaica, as well as
other corporate sponsors are lining up to create Bread n Butta with her face on
it for real, before some other country does while we sit and watch and cuss at
how dem tief wi plan.
The
Olympics/World Championships and now the just concluded Season 5 of NBC’s“The Voice” have been unifying for the
country of Jamaica. Once we hear seh someone/something is Jamaican, all if we
nuh know them, we support them, because really, we are the greatest country of
waggonists, like it or not. But, at least we always team up to support our own.
People of
Jamaica; the country is yours. The country is mine. It’s Tessanne’s, Usain’s, and
Bob Marley’s. It’s ours! The name Jamaica is known everywhere, and it sells
everywhere! The food sells, the tourism product sells, the music sells, our athletics
sell; EVERYTHING good about Jamaica sells! Maybe they don’t all sell well in
Jamaica, but best believe they sell in other parts of the world.
Peace.
By the way! Check out this AWESOME post by my NCU batch and blogmate Randy Goldson on what Tessanne's win means to Jamaica and what a very popular Jamaican icon would say!
We
remember the VW Superbowl Ad, and then the other controversial German Flag Burning Ad.
Sure everyone didn’t like them, but because they had elements of Jamaica in them;
like it or not, people watched! That’s exactly what the makers wanted. Mi tiyad
fi see people a mek money offa wi. Wi need fi start mek money offa wi self!
Let’s reclaim our brand and build our land!
P.s. Sir
Usain Bolt, you’re Jamaican. Yuh a yawdie!!! Best sprinter the world has seen!
Please, with the utmost respect, mi a beg yuh fi do like Tessanne. “Talk di
tings!” locally and on International T.V. Lose the accent. Do, wi a beg yuh. Be
distinctly Jamaican! If anybody can teach the world patois, it’s you!
 |
| Photo credit: Theguardian.com |
#TeamTessanne #TeamChinitaGoodaz #TeamAdam #TeamJAMAICA!
