The first dance at Samory I’s wedding wasn’t one of his own songs. The reggae singer and his new wife Cece swayed to Genesis by Chronixx instead, a choice Cece says fit the moment perfectly.
“Never Give You Up is definitely special to us, but we didn’t use it for the wedding,” Cece told THE STAR. “It felt right for the moment.
Marriage is a new beginning, a new chapter and a new foundation for us.” In a previous interview she had named that unreleased Samory I track as her favourite, so fans hoping for an early preview at the reception will have to keep waiting.
The Rastafarian singer, born Samory-Tour Frazer, tied the knot two weeks ago in St James. Family and friends travelled from as far as Africa to be there, and Samory I later shared photos from the ceremony with a caption that doubles as a philosophy: “Love is lovely, war is ugly, Jah bless the man!”
Asked what that mantra meant to him at the altar, he didn’t waste time getting to the word every wedding crowd cheers for.
“For me, it’s simple. Love is always the better way,” he said. “Standing there with my wife, before Jah and our families, it was about choosing love, choosing peace and choosing to build together.”
The couple skipped the stiff, formal route and handed the microphone to dancehall entertainer Chi Ching Ching, who served as MC. Samory I and Ching have worked together on record before, so the pick felt natural to the groom.
“Ching is family,” he said. “We didn’t want the wedding to feel overly formal or staged. We wanted it to feel like us: Jamaican, cultural, musical and full of life.”
For anyone who has followed Samory I since Rasta Nuh Gangsta and his 2016 debut album Black Gold, that blend of culture and celebration is on brand.
His music has always leaned on roots, faith and family, and the wedding seemed to carry the same spirit into real life.
His six-year-old son Jahseh got top billing too. Samory I called the youngster “the star of the show” and said the day was as much about the boy as about the couple.
As his father, I want him to grow up seeing love, commitment and family as something you nurture and protect,” he said.
The guest list reflected a family stretching across continents. Our families come from different places and cultures, Jamaica, Nigeria, Senegal, and for that moment everybody was just family,” the singer said.
He admitted the biggest memory wasn’t any of the planned highlights. It was the quiet stuff away from the cameras, people laughing, reasoning and celebrating together.
With Never Give You Up still sitting in the vault and a new chapter just getting started, Cece may yet get her favourite song out in the world on its own terms.
