Goddy Goddy - file

He is a pastor with a busy schedule as a gospel artiste but Goddy Goddy still finds time to spread his ministry in the inner city.

The artiste, whose real name is Howard Reynolds, keeps himself busy recording, touring, being a pastor at Citadel of Hope Church in Savannah Cross, Clarendon and managing his inner-city ministry.

Yet, he is able to find enough time for all these activities.

"The good thing about it is that I have good assistants, so they are in charge of things when I am not around," he said.

Inner city

The gospel artiste formed an inner-city ministry called 'Street Vibes' in 2002. Through this programme, he ministers to gunmen, drug addicts and prostitutes in communities such as Arnett Gardens, Rema, Trench Town, Maxfield, Tivoli and Waterhouse.

Goddy Goddy said he started the ministry because he is also a product of the inner city.

"I know poverty and it's not nice. I minister to people in songs and the spoken word. I also try to help the less fortunate people with food, clothing and housing," he told THE STAR. "They really love it. A lot of them need the help and can't get it. They believe that more churches and artistes should be doing things like this."

This type of work has earned him the title 'Ghetto Priest', which is also the name of his third album.

He said 'Ghetto Priest' has been doing well.

"It's doing excellent. Chaka Chi is really selling the album," he said.

However, he said people are confused about the meaning of the song.

"Chaka Chi is an unknown tongue but it is not genuine. The song is about a false prophet who is deceiving a girl. One of the things he used to deceive her was chaka chi chi," said Goddy Goddy. "Dats why mi seh, 'chaka chi chi a Satan lie'. The first verse explains it but people don't listen the whole song, just the rhythm."

Goddy Goddy currently has other tracks like Granny and Run Mi Down that are enjoying heavy rotation on radio. Work is also being done on his fourth album, which has not yet been named.