After being forced to endure darkness and discomfort for more than a month, dancehall entertainer Laden is relieved that electricity has been restored to his community. The Time To Shine artiste resides in Dunder Hill, Junction, St Elizabeth. Many areas in the parish have been without electricity since Hurricane Beryl passed close to the country's south coast on July 3 and left a trail of destruction in its wake.
"Yesterday, wi get back current [electricity] suh yuh done know, food affi cook," the artiste said with a laugh as he rattles with dishes and pots in his kitchen. "But yeah, I got back light yesterday, I went out and a when mi fawud in mi see seh di place light up suh dat a waah big relieve fa me," Laden told T HE STAR. Light and power company, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), said more than 98 per cent of its customers across the island have been restored with electricity since the storm.
It said the return to normalcy for St Elizabeth should take place by month's end. Laden said being without electricity for such an extended period was difficult. "Being in the dark, it can add a little pressure on yuh - yuh nuh able fi have little cool water inna yuh fridge, yuh can't press, yuh can't wash.
Modern days now, suh all these equipment can't run without current, suh most definitely it affect us inna a way, especially me personally," said the musician. He said that the absence of electricity also had an adverse impact on Internet and telephone services, making connectivity difficult. "The Wi-Fi/data at times have problem and often time yuh see mi affi a drive from one point to another point searching for [phone] signal or to get a stronger service after dis hurricane," Laden said.
The Hard Times artiste said in terms of his musical career, he suffered "minor setback for a major step forward" with his album that he had plan to release in July. "But because of the storm, I had to push back the release date. It's a 13-track album [which] will be released by the end of September - back-to-school season because most of the tracks are some motivational and uplifting stuff.
Suh after when everybody spen up dem money, dem waah listen some music now where dem can look forward to work and get back some money for the Christmas season," shared Laden. He said that the album, which is titled, Against All Odds , also got the name as it is a project that was single-handedly done "by myself, without management or any big-named producers". "I'm just working with someone who believed in me and is very talented - Lenoi Bentley - producer for Masicka's Suicide Note on his [2021] album titled 438 ".
Despite the slight setback, the chirpy artiste said he is all set and focused on the upcoming release of his album while being "grounded with family" in the restored comfort of his home and grateful that the disaster wasn't more devastating. "I didn't lose any roof, mi family have a little gazebo and it gone - mi can see wid dat," he shared with a chuckle. "But in terms of bad damage, give thanks, none of my family experienced that type of [loss].
However, residents lose a whole lot a things like their roofs, their farms, badly damaged cars etc. But people slowly getting back light and slowly restoring, suh we give thanks," he shared..
