Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican ska & reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and actor. He is the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences...
NationalityJamaican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth1 April 1948
CountryJamaica
broke christian home rules stealing strictly values
Christian values were important at home. Cleanliness. Don't steal. Don't lie. Those were the rules, and they were strictly enforced. Especially the stealing and lying. When you broke the rules, you got a beating. I always broke the rules a lot.
delicate family
I have a career, which is important, but my family is the priority. First family, and then career. It's a delicate balance.
dreams growing river town travel village walk
It was one of my dreams as a child, growing up in my little village with my cousins. We used to walk together, and I used to say, when you look at the world map, 'This town is there, that town is there, that river is there.' I used to say, 'One day, I'm going to travel these places.'
coming diplomacy diplomatic educated heart knew love
I would love to see no more ghettos, but the things is, there's no diplomacy in the ghetto. They want to tell you something, they tell you straight! An upper class, more educated person - they find a diplomatic way to tell you the thing. I love it when you just come heart to heart. That's the way I knew it coming up, so that's the way I like it.
concrete grew hard miles outside people planet twelve
I grew up twelve miles outside of Montego Bay. In my early teens, I went to Kingston. It was like a different planet for me. In the country, people are kind. In the city, people are hard an' cold, like the concrete and steel.
accepted becoming
There are goals that I had set out for myself as an artist. I have accomplished some of them - becoming accepted all over the world - however, other parts of my goals have not been completed.
began faster lived music people recorded reggae styles using
When I lived in the U.K., I recorded a lot of ska and rock-steady styles of Jamaican music. But people there weren't accepting it. So I began using a faster reggae beat.
gonna harder share sun sure
So as sure as the sun will shine,.I'm gonna get my share now of what's mineAnd then the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all.
people want might
People might say, 'Jimmy Cliff, you've done a lot, achieved a lot. What more can you want?
mean ghetto feet
It's important for me to go back into the ghetto, where I'm from. I still get my oxygen from there. I don't live in the ghetto but every time I go back, I'm seeing the same things that I lived. That's one of the things I mean when I say, "My feet back onto the ground."
artist helping jamaicans
I'm an artist. And I'm happy that I was there at the commencement of this music, this Jamaican music, to put my contribution and help to establish it.
artist smell people
I visit studios. Just to get the feel, the smell, and see what other people are doing. Not only listening to the radio, but going to studios, greeting musicians and artists, just getting a vibe.
moving boys hands
I don't know where life will lead me, but I know where I've been. I can't say what life will show me, but I know what I've seen. Tried my hand at love and friendship, but all that is passed and gone. This little boy is moving on.
artist echoes people
Certain artists have a role to echo the echoes of the people and that's what I'll be doing on my next album.