Fantan Mojah Defends ‘Fire King’, Says ‘High Priest’ Endorsed The Controversial Video

Fantan Mojah has claimed that Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith the legendary High Priest of Reggae Guitar, who co-produced dub poet Mutabruka’s 1983 debut studio album Check It!, has endorsed his raunchy, controversial Fire King music video.

In the same breath, Fantan who was placed on the backfoot by Muta over the last week, after premiering the Fire King video two weeks ago, took aim at Dancehall artist Intence’s Pickachu video.  According to him, the Fire King video is a far cry from the content of Intence’s music video, and so does not deserve to be criticized.

He made the claim in an interview with veteran entertainment journalist Winford Williams during the Onstage program, which was aired on Saturday night, after the host asked him, during discussions about his song versus Rastafarian principles, whether he reports to any particular elder or leader of the faith to which he has aligned himself.

“You know seh a one elder I link more time.   Yeh, mi link few a dem but mi can call dah one yah name.  Yuh si Chinna Smith, real godfaada; him nu hide nuttn.  Chinna Smith a one a di teacha inna music,” Fantan replied.

When Winford asked him if the High Priest was “cool” with the video, Fantan’s response was eager.

“Suh if mi godfaada neva cool with it him would call mi and seh “Fantan mi nu hike it enuh”.  Di man like it from di first day him see it.  Yeh…Very first day him si it him like it,” the Mama Hungry artist declared.

He then compared his song to Intence’s Pickachu, implying, that unlike that song, he has not degraded women, so he has not done “nuttn wrong inna mi music”.

“Look at it dis way. Rememba I nuh have no girl inna it yuh know Winford, weh mi a smoke and  use dem mouth as ash tray.  Yuh nuh si dat inna mi video,” he said in reference to the first scene in Pickachu where a woman with her mouth wide open allows Intence to dust ashes from his spliff.

“Yuh nuh si no two girl a kiss inna mi video,” he said in references to Sapphic scenes in the Pickachu video.   “Yuh si a video wid some girl inna swimwear.   Swimwear; look good; bathsuit; dem look good inna dem ting; perform inna mi video, ye, nice, properly.”

Fantan is no stranger to pointing out the missteps of young artists.  Six years ago, during his performance at Rebel Salute, the Most High Jah artiste ripped into Dancehall artistes Alkaline and Gage whom he claimed, were denigrating Jamaican women in their songs.  He had also demanded that the two artists “write some good song and sing to di nation, and stop defile mi pickney dem a Jamaica”.

During the interview, when Williams asked whether or not he was a Rasta, Fantan declared: “Winford, yuh nuh si mi a turban man.  Wi a Rasta, by law an by birth.”

Asked if there are no principles governing the way Rastafarians should dress, Fantan dismissed the traditional Afrocentric garments, oftentimes worn by Reggae legends such as Capleton, Luciano, Bunny Wailer, and Mutabaruka himself, ‘as one bag a cloth”, which will never be worn by him, as he only wears “good clothes”.  He said he would continue to disregard those he described as “Reggae Police” who wanted to dictate to him about how to dress.

“Look pon it dis way.  Rasta must clean.  Yuh mu have on nice clothes… good clothes an nice tings.  Rasta mus look good.   Suh who a try dis stuck up ting and dis one bag a cloth ting, mi nuh inna it Winford.  Mi nuh inna it wid dem enuh,” the St. Elizabeth native said.

“Listen yuh si di last time me check, an di few time me check, a just His Majesty mi know bout enuh.  Mi know bout Prince Emmanuel and Marcus.  Suh yuh si di likkle man dem weh a try shub in demself like dem a God Almighty and dem is dis man yah, dem betta behave demself,” he added.

Last year Fantan and Chinna, who is also known as Melchezidek the High Priest, collaborated on the Soul Cry production which was a nine-minute amalgamation of several of Fatan’s hits.  Chinna, who has been a guitarist active since the late 1960s is known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and has recorded with numerous reggae artists, and has appeared on more than 500 albums.

Chinna is also the arranger for classic Reggae songs such as Junior Byles’ Fade Away.

A foundation member of the Soul Syndicate band, he later branched off into production,  creating his own High Times label and the High Times Players, a band which became the touring outfit for Mutabaruka in the 1980s.