Ward 21
 
 


 

 

Auf dem 20. Summerjam in Köln vollzog sich ein kurzes Zusammentreffen mit Ward 21, die mit ihrer Lautstärke und ausgesprochen schlechten Manieren bereits am Vortag ihres Auftritts das Festivalgelände unsicher machten.
Aber entgegen aller Erwartungen blieben die vier Rude Bwoys im Beantworten von Fragen eher höflich und zurückhaltend. Und fast schien es, als seien sie nur Standartfragen gewöhnt und hätten nicht genug Phantasie, um einfach mal so ein wenig aus dem Nähkästchen zu plaudern.
Aber unabhängig davon, wie ich Ward 21 eingeschätzt hatte und was dabei letztendlich herausgekommen ist, möchte ich euch das kurze Interview nicht vorenthalten...

Welcome again in Germany! I saw you walking around here at the festival place today, tasting a little bit of the German Reggae and Dancehall festival culture. Have you been surprised about some first impressions?

Kunley: No man, not surprised at all, because... I mean we have been coming to Germany for five, six years now and the reason because we come back so often is because we love it here!

Oh really? But obviously there is a big difference beween festivals in Jamaica and Germany! Is something important missing here or do you think you also have fun and make party at this place?

Rumblood: Yeah, I think we can have fun. We just party with you yesterday. We enjoy making party with German people. We love you all! Everywhere in Europe!

Well as you are talking about loving all German people... What do you think about men who are wearing skirts while they are dancing? I saw some surprised faces and you reactions yesterday in the dancehall.
(großes Gelächter)

Kunley: It was funny.
Rumblood: That's their thing, that's their culture, we cannot fight that. They believe in that, they do that. That's funny for me to see that. That's no problem!

So everyone is doing his own thing. What is your recepy of impressing the massive when you're performing on stage?

Rumblood: The energy that we bring and the love for the fans!

To me it seems like your live shows prove your name. Please explain again meaning of Ward21 for the German audience!

Kunley: Ward 21 ist the psyciatric ward at the university hospital in Kingston Jamaica. It's the ward for the crazy people and we chose that name because of our performance style and our musical style which is a little bit different from the other Jamaican style. It's crazy, so we chose that name.

Jamaica is a very violent place at the moment. What about the shootings, murders, dead people lying in the streets? Do you think currently violence in Jamaica is a great problem?

Kunley: Violence anywhere in the world is a great problem. There is violence in Irak, there is violence in London. Shootings happen everywhere, but guess what, guess what: That's something that the media at times blow out of proposion. They concentrate on the bad stuff and not on the good stuff. Irak is more violent than Jamaica, a lot other countries are more violent than Jamaica. That's because Jamaica is such a small island, it shows up a lot more than the bigger countries!

Do you think that conscious lyrics could make a change in the near future?

Kunley: Maybe, we don't know! We just have to try!
"Just mek one week pass and nobody done dead (alle chanten weiter) one week pass and nobody done dead, one week pass and nobody done dead."

Would you also recommend other musical styles or do you only stick to your own music?

Suku: Every type of music!
Rumblood: Busta Rhymes, Eminem...


Would you also recommend some Jamaican artists?

All together: Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Spragga Benz, Mad Cobra, Degree, Beenie Man, Tanya Stephens...

Rumblood: BIG UP TANYA!

Tanya Stephens aus der Nachbar- Backstagekabine : Big up back! (allseits großes Gelächter)

Finally tell me which projects are in the pipeline at the moment? Any new plans?

Suku: A new Album. New Riddims coming out soon!
Rumblood: (in Richtung Tanya Stephens, die sich gerade in Hörweite in der Nachbar-Backstagekabine befindet): We have a song fi do with Tanya Stephens, but she don't want it, I don't know why. I wonder...We have fi pay her! (wieder in Richtung Tanya Stephens) Tanya, Tanya! I wonder wha we have fi pay ya to mek a song wid we. We waan you fi sign fi do one on our album. We're in an interview and we're talking out loud, so all German people dem hear you!

.... und so fand die kurze Unterhaltung ihr provokantes Ende. Ob Tanya Stephens den vorlauten Rumblood anschließend in die Hölle geflucht hat, habe ich nicht mehr erfahren, aber offensichtlichen waren die Spannungen zwischen den beiden harmlos genug, um im Anschluss, während des Auftritts von Tanya, noch einmal gemeinschaftlich auf der Bühne performen zu können!


Interview & Fotos: Jamilah Sundance (10.7.2005)

 







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