Al not shying away from One Third legacy

Al Third, who made his name as a member of the reggae trio One Third, has put all speculation to rest and says he has officially separated from the group in order to focus exclusively on his solo career. He revealed, however, that his name remains the same, as the One Third legacy is not something he can ever get away from.

“We made a positive mark in the 10 years as a group, so people will always refer to me as Al Third, or even One Third, and I embrace it,” the singer, whose name is Alpheus Johnson, told The Gleaner.

He insists, however, that the split, which was made official three months ago, was amicable.

“We nuh have nuh argument nor nuh spat. I broke the news to them at the beginning of September, and they were not expecting it. Well, perhaps one of them had an idea,” he said.

He agreed that his solo projects, which he had been working on since 2011, had allowed him flexibility and didn’t interfere with his group engagements. He says that his final decision to quit One Third was prompted after watching a repeat of Reggae Sumfest on television and seeing a lot of young acts “performing and doing music that I wanted to do”.

Al says that it wasn’t a case of the group holding him back, it was more that they had different goals and ambitions and conflicting views about the direction they should go as an entity.

“I realised that it didn’t make sense to be promoting yourself as a solo act and then rejoin the group, so I decided to end the conflict of interest. Life goes on, they are still doing their thing,” he said.

Now that he has taken his destiny into his own hands, he is taking bookings, working on new music, and ready to hit the Billboard chart.

“It’s tough work, but I’m up for the challenge. When you win, all the glory is yours, but if you fail, it’s also all on you,” he mused.

Al released his latest single, Lone Face, over two months ago, and in addition to receiving what he calls “significant airplay”, it has also opened doors for him. “I’m getting more persons to work with me now in terms of production, and there are other persons who are just realising that I can produce,” he said.

He also has plans to release an album in the third quarter of 2020 or early the following year.

“Right now, I am putting things in place for summer next year. I have a few bookings for December, and I am grateful. The work continues,” he said.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com