Entertainment

Rolling with Fantan Mojah

By GERMAINE SMITH Staff Reporter

Fantan Mojah arrives at Alpha Academy for Fame School Rules during THE STAR's day out last Thursday. - Ricardo Makyn

THE STAR'S PLANNED day out with Fantan Mojah never stuck to the script, but life is just like that. You plan one thing but somehow you end up doing another.

Our featured artiste of the month started the day with breakfast at just around 11 a.m. He was to be the chef for this meal, and Fantan played the part well. He stripped away his deejay airs, strapped on his kitchen apron, and cooked a sumptuous Rastaman meal for THE STAR team and a handful of his loyal soldiers who were hanging out on the Downsounds premises.

Under the watchful and hungry eyes of his crew, Fantan Mojah took just under three hours to concoct seasoned vegetable chunks with rice and peas, complemented by dasheen and pumpkin. As brawta, and to wash it all down, Fantan proved his skills with the blender by making melon juice.

"We a born chef, we learn this long time," he boasted. "We know how fi light fire without matches, and we know how fi dig hole and put banana leaf inna it fi cook, real macka tree living."

Joe Bagdanovich, Chief Executive Officer of Downsounds Records, was busy shooting a DVD documentary about Fantan, so the kitchen was loaded with bright lights and camera equipment. Like the true movie star of the moment, Fantan spoke to the cameras and to us explaining step by step his kitchen antics.

In between the cooking demonstration, Fantan's right hand soldier called 'Strent' and Downsounds personnel handled the phone calls which did not stop. People needed to talk to the deejay, sound system selectors wanted dubplates, producers needed songs to be recorded and a host more of requests. It is obvious that this was not the Fantan of a year ago. He has got a lot busier.

"Right now we haffi give thanks for the opportunity, cause without the people dem yu a nobody," he stated about the growing fan base. "A dem pay dem $500 and dem $1000 fi come look pon yu, and if dem nuh give you that current deh, you naa gwan with nutten, so mi haffi give thanks fi mi fans dem inna the 14 parish dem."

It does come with consequences, though, he added, because now that he has a buzz, the world expects him to keep it going.

"The hardest part a fi maintain it. Right now we a maintain it, we a deal with it proper. The people waa hear positive music from you everyday and seh jah know tha youth ya a nuh easy nut fi crack."

By the time he had finished the meal, Fantan had roughly a dozen hungry mouths to feed. By the time he was finished sharing out the meals and finished eating, however, certain plans we made for the day became secondary.

We were supposed to do a photoshoot of some of Fantan's special suits, head out to the studio to record a few tracks, then head off to Alpha Academy for a guest performance.

The only thing Fantan could do was to get a change of clothes and head to the Alpha School for the FAME FM School Rules session. After the hard work in the kitchen, it turned out to be harder work at the school. He was supposed to be signing autographs for the students and offering advice to them, but the second his F-150 rolled into the venue, that was a lost cause.

Enthusiastic girls huddled around the truck barely allowing him room to exit in peace. "A mi fans dem, mi caa too boasty fi dem," he chuckled as he tried to sign a few notebooks."

He had a packed auditorium waiting and had to make his way through a near mob to get there. The minute he stepped in, it became obvious that there would be no more autograph signing. It was straight to the performance which he delivered well to close the day.

In just a few hours, he was to headline the Guinness Timeless Thursdays inside the Asylum night club, and that session at the Alpha school was more than enough of a warm up.