When the Bermudan born, marijuana endorsing Collie Buddz ‘Finally Come Around’ for the Guyana Music Festival two Saturdays ago, he was a mere shadow of the excessively cool, crisp, hauntingly sexy, reggae star we had grown accustomed to seeing on television.
But he was a new face and that was all that mattered.
The autograph seekers lined up, photo-mongers grouped up and interested women/girls fought to be noticed. Buddz soaked it all up while familiarising himself with the seeming best of the local brewery selection.
At a press briefing held the day before the recent show, the singer turned up in a jersey, jeans, sneakers and his trademark sunglasses clutching a Banks Premium Beer. Fielding questions about his hit tune, Come Around, the singer said he is endorsing “herbs,” to some extent, but that is what the people want.
“People love the herbs, and my song looks at this while glorifying it in a way. But that is what the people want, dem love it,” he said with a smile.
Though he grew up in Bermuda, Buddz said he was fortunate to have spent his early years listening to the best in reggae sounds. His said Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Buju Banton and many others influenced his taste in music, and later gave direction to the path he took. Buddz said he grew up free-styling, deejaying, arranging and mixing music before actually taking up the microphone and cutting his own music.
He explained that his stage name ‘Collie’ is a twist on his name, Colin, and he just added Buddz to it. The singer said Colin Harper and Collie Buddz is the same person. What you see is what you get whether he is on stage or off. Buddz’ roots are in Bermuda, but his music is grounded in Jamaica where he has spent the last few years building his career.
Unfortunately for Buddz his performance at the festival turned out to be flat. He never found his groove, and as a result stood on stage working up a sweat while trying to work up the crowd.
His self-titled album is loaded with quality material in addition to the popular Come Around and Mamacita, but the capacity crowd at the Guyana National Stadium never got a chance to get a taste of them.
