No More Obeah Songs For Valiant: “Went Corporate, No Need To,” Singer Says
Siance singer Valiant says he will no longer release songs that promote the practice of witchcraft, especially since he has gone “corporate”.
A few days ago, Valiant snuck into the comments section of a Star article about him on Instagram, after a reader stated that: “Mommy needs to tell him to stop sing bout obeah”.
Seemingly amused by the recommendation made by the woman, Valiant tagged her and replied: “😂went corporate no need to 🙌”.
His corporate reference alluded to his new brand ambassadorship deal with Digicel Jamaica.
The communications giant’s management seemingly had no qualms about the references in the lyrics of Valiant’s songs, as the singer was hand-picked for the company’s “Digicel 40 Million inna 40 Days Campaign”, in which his Speed Off track is used as sync music for their advertising campaign.
The collaboration with Digicel puts Valiant alongside the likes of Bounty Killer and I-Octane, as Dancehall artists who have had brand deals with the company.
When the announcement that Valiant was Digicel’s newest brand ambassador was made, there were cheers from his fans who crowned him “corporate” as they hailed his success.
“Valiant gone corporate, unu nuh easy enuh den unu cuss and say him sing bay slack songs,” one of his beaming fans had said, in taking aim at the artiste’s detractors.
Digicel’s executives had also shared a behind-the-scenes video a few days ago praising the Red Hills native.
“It is a really exciting day onset with Valiant and his entourage. Full of energy; full of excitement and vibes. He’s been shooting for our 40 Million in 40 Days Campaign and I can’t begin to tell you how hyped we are to have him as a part of this campaign… I cannot wait for it to hit the public,” one senior Digicel representative said in the video.
In February this year, Valiant had stated, in an interview in Guyana, that the lyrics in the slew of bellicose songs he had released since October, among them Dunce Cheque, North Carolina, St. Mary, C.A.L (Cut All Losses), Speed Off and Siance, which had stormed to the top of YouTube’s most-watched in Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, are simply what people within the region want to hear.
The songs are centered around the glorification of lotto scamming/fraud, Molly drug use, Obeah, and gunmanship.
Speed Off, which is synced in the Digicel advertisement, makes references to his converted “chipped” Glock pistol, which he does not leave behind; that he is fully “guzu-up” (protected by witchcraft) and that his “clients” and his “chopping” has no limit.
In North Carolina, he glorifies engagement in Obeah and lotto scamming, and, in Siance, he alludes to the fact that he has become “corrupt”, because he has had no luck scamming persons on the phone.
Valiant, whose given name is Raheem Bowes, rose to stardom in October last year, after a video clip of him engaging in a conversation at one of his music video shoots, where he nonchalantly uttered the words “kotch e hat, a lie”, went viral. Following that, many music sought him out, after finding out that he was a recording artiste.
In an address at the launch of Sting 2022 last November, Valiant had beseeched members of the media and the general public not to judge his character based on the unsavory songs he had been releasing, as he had also recorded many positive songs and had more to come.
His pronouncements had come two days after Information Minister Robert Morgan had taken issue with content from his Dunce Cheque song during the National Youth Month Church Service in Mandeville, only hours after he released visuals for the song on YouTube.
The Oberlin High School old boy had explained that he had been recording music for several years but had not got his big break until he changed his mode of operation, and founded what he describes as ‘Trappa Gospel’ and went viral following the kotch e had video.