Veteran dancehall duo remember first Christmas in LA

There is one Christmas memory that always gets classic reggae duo Chaka Demus and Pliers laughing to tears. In the early days of their career and friendship, while in Los Angeles (LA) for a performance at Christmastime, as the two entertainers considered whether they should dine out or eat in, Chaka Demus, being the doubting Thomas, would tease Pliers into putting on an imaginary toque (chef’s hat) and getting his hands dirty in the kitchen.

“The best Christmas dinner me ever cook was in LA, but me nuh memba the exact year,” Pliers told The Sunday Gleaner.

He added, “The reason me memba it so much is because Chaka never sure me coulda roast a chicken.”

Chaka Demus would eat his words, and then some. Despite a few missing ingredients, Pliers shared, one of which was browning, the taste of the dinner lingers.

He said, “We really just wanted to do our own Christmas dinner and not wanting to buy food. We decide to do it the Jamaican way, [so] we went grocery shopping for a good- size chicken and seasoning. I did a little remix and stuff it like turkey and roast it in the oven. Only thing is, we forgot the browning, and it never turn out as brown as it should. I guess the oven gave it a colour, and me do some festival. When it done roast, and me cut that chicken up, it did taste ‘badder’ than the best restaurant where we coulda buy chicken inna America. It’s a memory we always walk and talk through and just laugh.”

Chaka Demus is not afraid to admit that his skills in the kitchen are limited, and he could hardly control his laughter during the interview. “It was our very first Christmas in LA, too. Now, me cyaa cook, and him did know how fi cook certain things, so I asked Pliers to roast a chicken. Me is a steam fish type of man. That me can do. But we did feel fi some chicken and me say, him roast the chicken so good that me alone eat half of the chicken. We don’t have any pictures of special memories like that, but it remains vivid,” he shared.

The recording duo are pioneers in the reggae community and continue to make their mark on the international scene. Both established solo careers before coming together and garnered their first hit with the song Gal Wine, recorded for producer Ossie Hibbert, and after their debut album of the same title was released by Greensleeves Records in 1992. They received international success with Tease Me only a short time after. The two have performed with R&B stars like Alicia Keys at the 2007 American Music Awards and the 2013 BET Awards, alongside Beenie Man, Dawn Penn and Elephant Man. Chaka Demus, who has contributed renditions of local and international Christmas classics like Christmas A Come, said he is looking forward to a quiet holiday with his son, daughter and granddaughter. It has been a busy year preparing for their 30th anniversary album, slated for release in 2023. It is a collection of several new songs. Also, it features collaborations with Grammy Award-winning reggae-dancehall artiste Shaggy, vocal duo Tanto Metro and Devonte, and an upcoming dancehall-Afrobeats artiste out of Ghana by the name of Renner, who they have featured on the remake of the 1987 single, Young Gal Business.

“Hey, I can say I know my way around the kitchen now,” Chaka Demus asserted, adding, “I’ll be relaxing and playing music with my family. But before even speaking about dinners, I want to send a message to my fellow Jamaicans to cut down the violence and killing. I’m sure Pliers agrees with me when I say, we country cyaa take it nuh more. People need fi get back to expressing genuine care and love for one another.

“There is a lot we have to look forward to as a people; I am especially excited for Young Gal Business, featuring Renner, because it shows our ability to diversify, and she is a talented young artiste in Ghana who has explored our music. Afrobeats a gwaan wid a lot of things, and so is Chaka Demus and Pliers,” he continued.

stephanie.lyew@gleanerjm.com