Dancehall artiste, Delon ‘Stiffy Stiff’ Garraway has dropped a creole Dancehall remix of British rappers Young T & Bugsey’s “Don’t Rush”. The song, which also features Headie One, debuted early this year, and gained popularity when it became part of a TikTok challenge. It is currently being aired on radio stations and played in buses and on CD pushcarts.
Delon, who grew up in the village of Crane, West Coast Demerara, said music has turned his life around as at one point he was caught up with bad influences and had it not been for music, he would have either been in prison or dead. Growing up, unlike the average boy who dreams of becoming a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, or the president, he wanted to become a drug lord. “I know it’s crazy…,” he said, when he shared this but decided if he was going to be truthful, then there was no denying what he wanted to be.
Throughout his school life he was deemed one of the most troublesome boys, someone who was always up to some mischief or always rude. In fact, he had to have the last word in an argument.
On Thursday last, the singer celebrated his 24th birthday, and counts himself lucky to still be alive and to have an opportunity to make the most of his life. Less than a decade ago, he was caught up with the wrong company, but it was through them that he was introduced to music and his dreams later changed.
On many days he was over at a friend’s house where two youngsters free-styled Dancehall music and other genres. At first he just looked on until one day when he decided to try his own thing at home. He then returned the following day to his friend’s house to run it by them. They encouraged him to keep at it. Today he is the only one among them who took up music professionally. One of his two friends was shot during a robbery, while the other is currently incarcerated.
Knowing that he wanted to be on the other side, Delon joined the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in 2015. He specializes as a technician in the army and works as a technician part-time at home also. In between, Delon practices non-stop on his music. Along with Dancehall, the singer also does Reggae, HipHop, Soca and Creole Dancehall.
He is also a songwriter, though not in the conventional way. His way involves getting a track of music then adding his own words to it, singing it over and over again until it sticks; he calls it free styling. He said free styling is a craft that takes lots of practice to master. It takes him an average of two hours to finish an entire song.
Sometimes while out with friends or while busy at work, a simple phrase or sentence comes to mind that he thinks would make a great song. He immediately gets out his phone and saves it in his memo until he can find the time to work on it.
Most of his performances to date have been at various parties. However, he has performed at a concert where he opened for Jamaican Reggae artiste, Jamiel at a show in New Amsterdam.
The first time he performed, the singer said, he was really nervous and noted that nervousness does not stop after a show or several shows. In fact, Delon confided that he is nervous every time he gets on stage but always moves past that quickly once he gets going. There really is no better feeling he said than when the audience starts singing along with you.
The young man said he cannot wait to be onstage singing his “Don’t Rush” remix, since for him, of the 20-plus songs he has recorded, this is his biggest hit. Because the song was recorded and produced at this time, he has been unable to do any shows.
Many of his songs, he said, are about everyday issues. “Hurt In Love”, for instance, was inspired by a conversation he had with a young woman. At the time she was heartbroken owing to relationship problems and Delon was the one she sought to confide in. The song details many feelings and issues women have to deal with in relationships and led to countless women reaching out to him to say how easy it is for them to relate to this song
“If it wasn’t for music, I think I would have been like the two guys I started music with, either gone or in jail. The one that died, he chose to stop singing and engage in other negative things which I feel I would have found myself in if it wasn’t for music,” Delon said.
As a soldier, Delon has to be careful what he sings about. He has had an experience that got him into big trouble. One of his songs, “Captain McKenzie” spoke about a captain in the army. The seductive song included many common army slangs. “Captain McKenzie” was said to be a hit among his fans, but unknown to him, there was actually a captain in the GDF named McKenzie. As a result, he was incarcerated for three days.
While the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, his passion for music keeps him grounded in doing what he loves the best. Though not one for the spotlight, he is getting the hang of it now. Entertainment has opened up a whole new world for him, including travelling and meeting new and interesting people. Music has seen him performing at all three counties in Guyana.
Meanwhile, among the disadvantages is artistes not getting air play. DJs, he said, are often so foreign-minded that Guyanese artiste are forced to sound like the Jamaicans and Trinidadians before their song can be played. Having not promoted enough Guyanese music, promoters can only do so much and no more for Guyanese artistes when it comes to having them perform many of their songs at various concerts as audiences are not familiar with their music.
How is the world ever going to know Guyanese music, if promoters are not too bothered to promote locally? the singer questioned. His dream is to not only make it big regionally but to make it on the international scene and someday tour Europe. He does not know yet how he will do this, but he intends on making it happen. “I want to really put Guyana on the international map… not when you tell people about Guyana, they think its Ghana you talking about,” posited the singer.
To youngsters who dream of living their dreams someday but are following bad company, Delon says, “Follow your dreams. Don’t let nobody break your mind. Just follow your dreams; anything is possible and only you can make it possible.”
Asked to share his most memorable moment, one he will remember for as long as he lives, Delon enthusiastically said, “paratrooping”. For someone who dreads heights, this was the scariest thing he has ever done. It was the first time he had been in a plane. To make things even more difficult, he was the first of his group of colleagues to jump out of the plane. He has now done it seven times but is not at all excited to do it again.
Currently, the singer is working on two new songs called “Closer” and “Guyanese Convo” (a Creole Dancehall). Unable to socialize owing to the pandemic, Delon spends much of his free time at home. A normal day after work before this pandemic would have found him playing football or just going for an afternoon walk.
Delon Garraway can be followed on Facebook at Delon Garraway and Stiffy Stiff Music, on Instagram and YouTube @Stiffy Stiff Music and on TikTok at Stiffy Stiff.
