Maybe it’s a trend, but it seems that after all the excitement, ray-ray and passa-passa, the arms of the Lord always seem to be the place of refuge for most of those in the field of entertainment who decide to turn over a new page. Internationally, rappers such as Ma$e, left BadBoy Records to follow the Lord, only to be drawn back years later. Rapper DMX has flirted with the idea openly, and locally, the likes of Papa San, Lt. Stichie, Chevelle Franklin and Carlene Davis, have all walked away from illustrious careers to take up their cross and follow the Lord.
Dancehall recording artiste Macka Diamond seems to be the latest entertainment personality to be trodding this path. Just recently Macka was the specially invited guest of Prophet/Pastor Arthur Duncombe, of The City of Praise, in Nassau, Bahamas, to speak to the women of his congregation.
The request in itself seemed strange, said, Leesah Larmond of DiamondDistrict Ja., who initially refused to take the booking for the artiste, on the basis that it just didn’t seem morally correct for her artiste to be placed in such a compromising and strange situation. “I mean, let’s be reasonable, we are talking about Macka Diamond, and these people where talking about having her come and address a congregation of Christian women, it just didn’t seem right …” However, with the Pastor himself calling and making his intentions clear, Leesah eventually saw it his way.
The conference was based around the fact that in the Bahamas, too many women in the church seem to be losing their husbands to women who are not of the fold. That alone made it a bit intimidating, said Macka, who didn’t want to be looked upon as the object of these women’s problems. But ….they needed someone from the secular world who would not be afraid or timid to talk about issues of sex without the frills and fandangles, and after much contemplating, Macka decided to accept the challenge.
What Macka however soon found out was that although they may sing a different tune, like her, they (all the women in congregation) all want the same things; contentment, happy family life and the list of usual desires on most women’s wish list. That in itself was not strange, but what was, was the fact that the church actually reached out for a dancehall artiste, one who they believed knew a thing or two about holding on to a man.
“Who me?” asks Macka with a smile when asked if she was going to write the ‘How to Hold a Man advice book,’ “no sah, dat too much fi me, mi wi leave it at fiction, but the advice thing dey pon ah level wha kinda tricky, suh mi ago leave it alone.” That being said, it sure didn’t stop Macka from stepping up to the plate like the professional she is and answering the question like she had a degree in the field of Relationship Counselling. In Macka’s own words, it wasn’t so much about the advice, but more so speaking from a personal standpoint, listening to the issues the ladies in the Bahamas are having with their husbands, and basically saying if it was her in the situation, this is how she would deal with it.
“It wasn’t like I was trying to be all professional with it, I was just doing me, telling them how I feel and how I would deal with things, that was all Macka did, well,” Macka pauses and flashes a wide smile before saying, “dat and show dem di wine wha fi use hold dem man, because dem say dem hear bout it and wanted to learn it.” Macka blushes and says, “mi nuh really know it mi self either anuh, but mi jus show dem how fi do Hulla Hoop.”
“We all can learn from each other, age or status making no difference,” says Macka, when questioned about the strange nature of the request to speak to a congregation of Christians. “In some way you could say it strange yes, but in a next way, remember sey we jus went and speak to the students at Jose Marti High School, we spent a day over the Christmas holidays with the blind children at Salvation Army, so we are not strangers to different types of audience, plus most people who are now saved, once wasn’t, so although they may not listen to my music any more, they know me, and I am proud to know that a church can call my office and request my presence to speak to the ladies of their congregation, dat big” says The Money Goddess, sounding like she has her sights set on something for prime time, after the well attended and well received church event saw even the ladies of the congregation sticking around to take pictures and chit-chat with Macka.
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