Building Mayaro through music

Through his signature events such as Sunrise and Shades and School Fest, Selectah Kern intends to assist those less fortunate in the community and to shine a brand new spotlight on the south eastern coast.

Selectah Kern said: “This event [Sunrise and Shades] is done to give back to my community.

Mayaro does not really have anything. Mayaro was known for tourists. A place where tourists would love to go. That sort of die out so I am trying to bring back the light to Mayaro.” Sunrise and Shades was held on July 3.

It is through his music that he intends to do this. Selectah Kern has always loved music. At eight, he would sneak and use his uncle’s, Vibert Mitchell, records and player to deejay.

Having seen Mitchell, whom he described as an aspiring DJ, Selectah Kern would try to play as he had seen him do. Often he would be punished for sneaking and playing, until his uncle relented and taught him to play.

“Growing up in the house my uncle was an aspiring DJ, he always had all the latest records and I would run in the room and play and touch those things.

I would get licks for interfering.

I got a lot of licks for touching until he decided, I tired beating him, let me show him what is the right thing to do.” This led to what he defined as his big break, playing at a wedding at nine-years-old. “After I mash up that wedding, I was like, ‘I have to take this serious’. I began burning my own CDs and started liming around old DJs, like Black Coffee.” From then on, Selectah Kern, now 26, has made music his career.

He is a DJ at radio station, Power 102 and also plays at various events.

He was Barbadian artiste, Marzville’s DJ during this year’s Carnival. Kern has also created a rhythm called the Cali Rhythm which features Jamaican Dancehall artiste, Macka Diamond. He hopes that cricketing star and artiste Dwayne Bravo would lend his voice to the rhythm. He also hopes to one day play for other soca artistes like Machel Montano and/or Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez while also bringing that entertainment to Mayaro.

Through School Fest, a charity event also held annually, Selectah Kern has entertainers like Makamillion, Kerry John, Cali Gray, King Perry and Marzville, perform, while schoolchildren from pre-school to secondary bring in canned goods for entry, which is then redistributed to households in the community. This year’s School Fest was held on January 27. After Tropical Storm Bret, items from the fest were given to households in need in Mayaro.

But that is not all that Selectah Kern has planned for his community.

His other plans include a career day and getting the area’s youths involved in the project.