Singer/songwriter Troy ‘Mario Kein’ Wright, is a Reggae artiste for whom his music truly is his life. Troy, who has written some 300 songs to date, said his music is totally conscious.
“Music has humbled me and made me wiser,” he told The Scene in an interview. “When you have to sit and write songs you become more knowledgeable. You can’t just sing conscious music and not live it; you have to practice it.”
Troy has recorded around 35 songs, and though hesitant about putting them out there, he will soon release eight of those songs.
On August 1, he opened for Luciano at the Emancipation Show held at the National Park. Also on that ticket were renowned artistes, First Born, Natural Black and Benji Diamond.
Troy has been performing for 12 years since he returned to Guyana, but it was on a visit to Barbados during 2000 that he did his first live performance.
Troy recalled that it was a vendor on the island of the ‘Flying Fish’ who overheard him singing one of his songs and asked if he was a singer. He replied yes and before he knew it, she had put him in touch with a promoter and he was performing onstage for the first time in his life.
He recalled that he sang two of his own songs, “Black Woman Stop Crying” and “Give Thanks For Life”. He believes his journey may have started on the night of that concert at Temple Yard, Bay Street Hall.
Although professionally he has been performing for a little over a decade, Troy started singing at school concerts while still at primary school. Then he was attending the East Ruimveldt Primary. He also attended South Ruimveldt Primary and after high school, went on to attend Guyana Technical Institute.
His local performances include at the Bob Marley’s birth anniversary concert in 2013 at the Girl Guides Pavilion in Georgetown and in New Amsterdam; Pegasus Poolside, the Guyana National Stadium and the National Park. He has been performing at the annual Emancipation Show at the National Park since 2013.
His first time on stage in Guyana, he said, left a number of people in the crowd amazed. “The first time I performed at the National Park is one of the most memorable moments for me so far. Persons I knew were present there and we’d always greet each other from time to time but they never knew I could sing. When I began to sing they were astonished because they always saw me but never knew I could sing. They began making requests for my music and they have [since been] encouraging me to release my songs,” he said.
“One of the persons present there also was a friend of mine, Ras Leon Saul [local writer/director/producer] who after hearing my music pushed me to get my music out there. Even to this day he is still one of my biggest fans.”
Troy is inspired by Bob Marley, Beres Hammond, Dennis Brown and Freddie McGregor.
“Music is my life. I love music. I sing it because I love it. From work to writing songs, that’s me. Sometimes I’m up until 2/3 in the mornings working on a song,” he said.
For the Reggae artiste, coming up with a song means getting his chorus first. Once he’s got that down then it’s just a matter of ensuring the stanzas correspond with chorus and he’s “good to go.” But as zestful as he may be, he, like every other writer, has blocks. When this happens, Troy said, being a devout Rastafarian he reaches for his Bible; one of his best inspirations.
“My lyrics,” he said, “are what make me different from other artistes. Most artistes want to adapt the Jamaican style. I’m a Guyanese; I have my own style.”
It was just earlier this week that he was approached by a fan who told him that he and his wife enjoy his music; he said he was “touched” by this. His fans, he said, have been requesting him to release his songs. The singer said while he’s really looking forward to doing so, like most local artistes he faces challenges.
“Local artistes are struggling because there is no copyright law to protect our music and we are left to letting the cart man sell our CDs for a [meagre] $300. I haven’t released anything so far for the same reason but because my fans have been begging for some time now, I will be releasing them soon.”
Another challenge he said, is promoters who put more emphasis on highlighting overseas artistes instead of their own. His performances, he said, sometimes get a better response from the crowd than a renowned singer which can cause friction.
Music on the whole, he said, has taught him much. “I have a DVD with one of the shows Beres Hammond did in New York,” he related. “I noticed he missed one of the verses and it was his backup singers who realized and sang it; he quickly joined in with them. I realized that if a man like Beres can make that mistake, what about me? I’ve realized that in life you make mistakes; life is not perfect. We must be prepared for our shortcomings.”
Troy, who started recording with Up Link, left after the recording studio’s equipment was stolen. He’s now with the Brutal Traxxs family.
Apart from being an artiste, Troy is also a tradesman (carpenter and shipwright) and a football coach. He coaches Black Water Football Club and Channel Nine Warriors. He took his team, Channel Nine Warriors, to the national level in the Guinness Greatest of the Streets Competition.
His hobbies range from everything to do with his music, playing football and cricket to travelling, cooking (especially cook-up and fried rice). He also enjoys watching sports and movies based on history like Brave Heart and Malcolm X.
Someday soon, he said, his music is going to be on top in Guyana and the next biggest thing internationally.
This month, Troy plans to release eight of his songs: “Mama Stop Crying,” “Mama Africa,” “Save the Poor and the Needy,” “It Brings Teardrops to my Eyes,” “Girl I Wanna Make You Mine,” “Mother Nature Talk to Me,” “Girl I Love You” and one other song, which is going to be a surprise.
