‘Kick it way is not about violence’

His song “Kick it Way” is doing just that with the competition this year. Extremely busy for the 2003 season, he longs for a chance to get a little extra sleep. Last year was no different, when his  song “War” was the cry. Later in 2002, we grooved with the Divali Riddim collaboration between himself and Renee Castle called “Feeling Now”. With all that under his belt, the young fella who made his debut as part of Robert Amar’s Kiskedee Karavan back in the 90s as Maga Dan, grew with all of us, and now he’s a household name on the party circuit.

Now everybody wants to know what’s up with his new name, Maximus Dan de Gladiator. “Everything really ties into one another,” explains Maximus (his real moniker is under wraps). “It’s really about the role that Russell Crowe played in the movie Gladiator. Maximus is Latin for great, so it’s a powerful meaning behind the name as well. I didn’t just want to be another artiste. I don’t categorise myself; if I want to sing or do a chant I do it. I’m an entertainer, not a follower, but a leader, just like the character Maximus. When I saw the movie in Toronto in 2000, I came back to T&T with a ‘Maximus’ mentality... I just  needed to change my name. There is  no other reason. It had nothing to do with my physical size... yuh know  how people like to talk foolishness sometimes (laughs).”

The rough-voiced Petit Valley native has been steadily ascending up the musical ladder since he was just 12, chanting for his friends and family (yes, the voice was deep even then) and as a member of the Petit Valley RC School choir. In Diego Martin Junior Secondary, he was driven to perfect his skill. “When you young, you want to fit in with the crowd, so that I when I was chanting hell hard, because you want to be macho and fit in, if you don’t; you feel left out. But as I got older and more mature, I started going back to the Bob Marley and Jacob Miller tunes, the foundation artistes if you will. They had the conscious vibes.” But it was never an easy road for him. His close friend Kerry Maynard (they were best friends since school days) was instrumental in getting him to the Kiskedee Karavan audition, which he did with $hel $hok (the two are close to this day) and also doing some networking of his own.

His very first song was called “Only Gun” back in 1996. It received a lot of airplay on the stations 96.1FM and 98.9FM, which at the time were the main stations that played that particular type of music. At a time when new artistes heavily depended on getting that much needed airplay, Maximus Dan made his rounds to the bands themselves, just as he started recording. “Bands serve the same purpose as the DJ’s do in the radio stations,” he says. “I made sure that the bands got to know me and my music. You can’t always wait for the apple to fall from the tree... sometimes you have to climb it, or get the fruit with a stick.”
“Kick it Way” (the rhythm came from Keith Israel)  has been misunderstood by a few, simply due to the chorus. According to him, his lyrics are not violent; he listed things in society that people should kick away, rather than telling everyone to “kick up dust”. One young lady had walked up to him and told him point blank that she didn’t like the song, because to her it incited violence. He convinced her to come to hear the song performed live, which she did. Of course, she came back to him and apologised. “You see, I had told the lady that she wasn’t listening to the lyrics, she was listening to the rhythm and hearing the kick it way, like it was going to start a riot.

Now, nobody dances to the lyrics, they dance to the rhythm. People get confused in a party when they head ‘bad’ and they just hearing the chorus and figure that the tune inciting violence. But, not much people taking time out to listen to what the artiste has to say. This is why I love reggae so much, because it’s a powerful music. People listen. The lyrics are plain for you to hear. It’s not a music to jump to and prance about, so you hear it better and it reaches you mentally, rather than our music, which is a physical thing rather than mental. As you hear a rhythm, what you want to do is dance, you not listening to what the artiste has to say. After two three times, then you get the lyrics of the song and you say, ‘A-a, that is what he was saying? Yeah, yeah, I get it now’.”’

He believes that his success comes from his ability to stay current and focused on delivering the message in the music. As it sometimes happens with success, it’s bittersweet, due to the fact that he is extremely busy. After belting out songs night after night in the many fetes and all-inclusive parties, he hardly gets to rest in the morning. Sometimes the phone rings as early as 8:30 a.m. when he “killing sleep”, but he answers, saying yes to this appearance at a school’s carnival party, or to that appearance at a company gathering. Sometimes family calls and much as he’d like to sit and talk, he will promise to call back later, but as it goes in this business, he can’t, due to commitments. But he takes it all with a smile. “When I look back at when I told my teachers and them that I wanted to be an artiste, a singer, they were like, ‘A siiiinger?!?’, and they saying it in this kinda way, you know? Like, ‘That is what you want to do?’ Because you going to school to get your passes  and it’s like I want to do something else. Now that they see how things are, and how busy I get and the little recognition, they glad fuh so! All I hearing is, ‘Boy, ah real proud of you.’ But I must say that when you are busy like that, it just shows what you are worth, and the blessings come. My father used to say, ‘If a tree is laden and nobody pelting it, something is wrong’.”

Once the Carnival season is over, the touring to North America begins... of course Maximus Dan de Gladiator  is ready. He leaves our shores for a concert in late March, giving him a little time to take care of business and possibly do his two favourite relaxation activities; watching a little TV and getting some much needed sleep. In the meantime, he will continue to give us the music and find time to enjoy his favourite meal of grilled fish with veggies, scalloped potatoes and red beans. And no, he doesn’t cook. “I think I know where my talent is,” he laughs.

All in all, he is thankful for his many blessings and always tells people that the only way to success is through the Almighty. So you can rest assured that Maximus Dan de Gladiator will continue to lead the way in trying to bring the right message across. “If you keep telling a child ‘yuh good for nothing’ they will keep it in their mind until they get big. That is not my way. My way is to uplift, educate the people at the same time. At the end of the day you must know if you doing something wrong or not, the message must reach you. You can’t stop goodness.”