How Dancehall Icon Lady G Fell In Love With ‘Herbie’
Veteran Dancehall deejay Lady G has revealed the source of inspiration for her 2013 double-entendre song Herbie, noting that it arose from the fact that she became a ‘ganja baby’ after her first trip to the parish of Westmoreland as a youth.
Lady G was outlining her experiences as a young deejay, to Billboard producer and songwriter Kirk ‘Koolface’ Ford on a recent Instagram interview, when she told the story.
She said she had made her first trip to the rural parish, which known as the source of the best grades of the herb in the world to perform at a dance, at which veteran sound system operator, Jack Scorpio would be playing.
She said Scorpio had sought the approval of her mother for her to take the trip to the west, as she was still underage, and later that night, drama unfolded when veteran artiste Daddy Meeky asked her to do him a favour.
“Di fus time mi guh a one (rural) dance, mi guh Westmoreland an yuh know dem seh Westmoreland have di best herbs. Daddy Meeky build a spliff an him seh: ‘hol dah spliff yah fi mi G’ an mi hol it, an mi no know, di aroma from di weed jus hit mi an mi just start one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight (puffs)… when Daddy meeky seh ‘G, weh di spliff?’. Mi nuh know,” she said amidst chuckles.
“Den all I know now, some likkle man inna my head top jus start duh disconnection an all a dem suppm deh. Mi fret. Mi couldn’t deejay di night,” she said amidst laughter. “Mi start fret now, mi an a seh ‘Jeezas Christ, look how mi guh meck Scorpio ask mi madda fi meck mi come a dis country dance and den now me come a dis country dance and smoke weed and get mad’”.
Stating that it was the first she was speaking about the incident in the public domain, Lady G, though overcome with more laughter added: “Scorpio start cuss Meeky an seh: ‘weh yuh guh gi di people dem pickney weed fi guh smoke fah?’ An yuh know seh from afta dat mi tun ganja baby. But mi don’t smoke anymore right now… Suh when mi a sing bout Herbie mi know weh mi a talk bout.”
Lady G released the weed anthem Herbie, in 2013 and at the time, described it as a suggestive song, which “yuh have to listen good to know which one of the Herbie mi talkin bout”. The song was produced by Paul Lowe Chin for the A Spice of Chiney K album, which featured eight other tracks including Mamma’s Love by Bounty Killer, Angels Over Me by Anthony B, Red in their Eyes by Turbulence as well as What’s Good which featured Anthony B, Cutty Ranks, Sizzla, Ginjah and others.
Other tracks were Ketch A Fyah Tonight by Lutan Fyah, Tyad a Yuh That by Lenn Hammond, Woman wi Follow by Fantan Mojah and Mr. Right by Anthony Red Rose and Sizzla.
Lady G’s breakout hit was Nuff Respect, which was produced by Gussie Clarke in 1988. Along with her close friend Papa San, she also recorded two other Dancehall classics Legal Rights and Round Table Talk.
In 1994, she became a part of Danny Browne’s Main Street label under which the hit single Breeze Off on the Filthy riddim was recorded, the same beat that resulted in Mr. Vegas’ international hit Heads High, General Degree’s Traffic Blocking.
Her other hits include Provide the Wine, When we Rock Back, Moschino and Versace, The Gun and Perform.
She was also recognised by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) with an ‘Iconic Artiste in the Music Industry’ award in February 2020.