Gramps Morgan To Fellow Jamaican Artists: “Instead Of Having Three Range Rovers, Get Some Land”
Gramps Morgan, Grammy Award-winning Reggae artist and member of Morgan Heritage, recently offered advice in financial literacy and investment planning for his fellow artists and musicians as he spoke at the grand opening of the South Coast Beach Club Housing Development in 12 miles, St. Thomas, last week.
Morgan, who was the first celebrity homeowner at the development, has now taken on an ambassadorial role for the project, which overlooks the Caribbean Sea on Jamaica’s largely untouched southeast coast.
The A Woman Like You singer, who gave a brief speech at the opening ceremony, also attended by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, challenged fellow musicians to invest in land and development rather than luxury items like cars and jewelry.
“I tell my artist friends, instead of having three Range Rovers, change out one a dem and get some land no? We need to start investing in the land in Jamaica,” he said.
“How many gold chains we going to have? And I’m just talking about my section of the business because I’m a musician for those who don’t know from a group name Morgan Heritage and I’m just sharing this because many of the young men today are given the opportunity of reggae and dancehall music to go and sing for the world and represent a flag that is green, yellow and black which is the country of Jamaica.”
Speaking with DancehallMag, Morgan expressed a strong desire to motivate fellow musicians to explore entrepreneurship.
“It is always a great feeling to be part of a project any project, whether it is music or a business venture. I want to continue to inspire many of my young colleagues that are in music to use their brand and discover themselves as entrepreneurs and several of them already are for a very long time,” he said.
“There is no leveraging really, I’m just sharing the word and trying to help my colleagues and friends and family in this life. We as a people spend a lot of money on the wrong things and I just want to help to be the voice to remind everyone close to me to invest their money, right.”
He added: “The target audience is anyone that loves St Thomas and wants a home and is looking to invest in their family.”
Sharing his personal connection to the parish, Morgan recounted a story about his late father, Reggae singer Denroy Morgan, who, after a health scare in New York, expressed a deep desire to return to Jamaica, ultimately choosing St. Thomas for its beauty and potential.
“Let me tell you something, it was in 1995 a man name Denroy Morgan from the parish of Clarendon, he was in New York and he fainted and him say “Mi waah go home” and he said ‘but mi no know if mi waah go back a May Pen’ and we played on Reggae Sunsplash 1992 and there was something inside of him saying mi wah go home,” Morgan shared.
He continued, “Him say him tired fi eat ackee outta can inna America. Many of our families can relate because some a we freeze ackee and carry go up a foreign, no true? And him say mi wah come a St. Thomas. They called him the crazy Rasta man, the crazy rasta from foreign. But I’m happy that he ensured that his children got a proper education that we saw that daddy had a vision.”
Morgan emphasized the belief in vision, especially for St. Thomas, which had developed a reputation for its neglected infrastructure.
“It used to take three hours from Harbour View to reach St. Thomas where we live in Port Morant, where our estate is and now my brother came here, he said it took him 30 minutes to reach here this morning. In life people you must have vision, without vision the people will perish,” he said.
“I remember driving along here on my way to Port Morant and I saw this sign and mi say a waah a gwaan over dehso? Vision! I looked and I said that look like something weh ago deh a Montego Bay or Ochi. No more will you have to look to the West, we have pretty beach a St. Thomas and I want to thank Kevin (Sun Coast’s CEO) for bringing first world construction fashion because I’ve stayed in a lot of first world hotels around the world in many nice countries and when I enter that model …I felt so good. Mi say a really St. Thomas this?” he emphasized as he substantiated his point about having a vision.
“I saw the advertisement for this property, and I reached out on social media just goes to show you how powerful social media is and while driving past this property going to our home, I found it very interesting, especially with the property being on the coastline of Jamaica.”
“This truly was a no-brainer. It really wasn’t an offer. I saw the project as a great investment for my family in the future as well to be involved in the development of this pairs with me and my family have come so much to love,” he shared.
Morgan is no stranger to entrepreneurship, though.
“This is not my first time being involved with a business. If anyone knows me they know that I have my own jerk sauce. I also was involved in coffee and also have my own CBD company called Masaya Medical so there are several different things. I have my hands on it just to name a few,” he shared.
Kevin Frith, C.E.O & Developer of Sun Coast Beach Club, expressed delight at Morgan’s commitment. “As the developer, witnessing the dream of this coastal haven come to life is an incredible journey, and having someone as esteemed as Gramps Morgan choose our community to call home is truly an honor,” he shared.
“Sun Coast Beach Club aims to create a unique and luxurious living experience that blends affordability and opulence seamlessly. Gramps’ decision to invest in Sun Coast reaffirms our commitment to pioneering a new era of coastal living in Jamaica,” he said.
“For Suncoast we are building 396 residential units ranging from two bedroom townhouses, two bedroom duplex, our model unit is a 2 bedroom duplex, about 1850 square feet. For phase one, it is duplexes and townhouses, for phase 2 it will be duplexes, townhouses and luxury apartments and phase 3 will be luxury villas, 3 bedroom townhouses and more luxury apartments,,” Frith revealed.