Koffee, Protoje And More Talk ‘Clarks & Jamaica’: Watch
Clarks Originals unveiled the full 10-minute mini-documentary today on YouTube, after initially announcing on its Instagram page on Sunday that the video, which features Koffee, Protoje, Sevana, Lila Iké, The NoMaddz, England footballer Raheem Sterling, and British artist M1llionz, would be released this Friday.
On Sunday, the company drew the ire of particularly the Gaza Nation, after they previewed snippets of the documentary, with well-known Clarks booty champions Vybz Kartel, Super Cat, Popcaan, and Jahvillani “missing in action”.
Today’s move seems to have been undertaken in a bid to appease Dancehall fans who accused them of disrespecting the men who are behind the popularity of the footwear and high sales among Jamaicans across the world. Kartel’s name and song were mentioned a few times by Koffee, Lila, Sterling, and Protoje who also made several historical references to the boots in the Dancehall space.
Led by the hot-headed Gaza Nation, some Jamaicans had condemned the British footwear company after there was no mention of Kartel, Popcaan, Super Cat or even Jahvillani in the teaser released on Sunday.
Clarks also posted a trailer for the documentary today on IG, featuring images and comments from Grammy princess Koffee. Under the photo of the Toast artist, who sports a bluish-grey Desert Clarks, the company noted that “Koffee talks about what Clarks means to her, from the famous music she listened to growing up, to her family that wear it with pride” and noted that “as part of this project we’re working with Koffee and her Families Rule/MTLT charity that strives to empower kids through training, mentorship and scholarships”.
Clarks also transcribed some of the Ardenne High School old girl’s comments made in the documentary of her “experience of what the brand means to the people of Jamaica, from music to family”.
“I grew up in Jamaica, and I’ve seen what it means, what the brand means, and the actual shoes mean to Jamaicans,” it quoted Koffee as saying.
In mid-March, Clarks Originals had said it would be engaging in endorsement deals with Reggae and Dancehall artists to promote its new Spring 2021 collection ‘Jamaica Pack’ line, which would be officially be launched this month.
On Sunday, Dancehall fans had accused Clarks of being ‘out of order’ and disrespectful for what they say was its poor choice of artists, who played no role in the popularity of the brand in Jamaica, either back in the day or in modern times. Some said there is no way a documentary on the historical antecedents of Clarks could be told by artists who were not even around in the 1970 and 1980s when Clarks emerged on the Dancehall scene. “No Supercat? No Little John? Jus the youngers? How you gonna explain a story without the originals. Plus Vybz is the reason for the modern revival around Clarks,” one fan wrote.
In demanding just treatment for Kartel, some fans also said even if the Worl’ Boss could not be reached because he is incarcerated, then Popcaan, who featured on his iconic Clarks song, ought to have been contacted and featured, as should Jahvillani, who had paid tribute in his Clarks Pon Foot and Suede Clarks tracks.
Clarks has been an all-time favorite of Rastafarians and the nation’s Dancehall artistes, who glorified and immortalized the company’s ‘Bank Robber’, Wallabees, and Desert Clarks in their songs, dating to as far back as the 1970s.
Dancehall’s romance with Clarks shoes has been so massive that it inspired One Love Books’ founder Al Fingers, to undertake a compilation of tracks dubbed Clarks in Jamaica, which documented the enduring relationship between Jamaica and the British brand.
The popularity of Clarks in Jamaica has even attracted the attention of the BBC which journeyed to Jamaica in 2012 to interview Popcaan about his love for the brand, and other issues surrounding its popularity.