From civil engineering to stardom

Had 26-year-old Quan-Dajai Henriques not allowed fate to take its course with his life, he believes he would not have secured the role of playing a teenage Bob Marley in the Paramount movie Bob Marley: One Love.

For Henriques, who is now pursuing music, getting the perfect education with a degree was just not for him, though he had moved up the ranks from sixth form at St George’s College to start a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

“I never really tek di schoolwork seriously. I’ve always been just looking out, waiting on my turn,” a calm Henriques told The Gleaner during an interview at the Bob Marley Museum in St Andrew.

“I thought maybe, yes, I could do that (civil engineering at UWI). I like it, and AutoCAD and the [other] programmes [are] almost a lot similar to the music programmes, so it was interesting, but I guess now it is not what I was supposed to be doing ... I never finished [my degree because] COVID was right after [I started] university and I took a year, and then I was like, ‘I’m not sure I’m going back,’” he said.

For many, when you observe his demeanour, listen to Henriques speak, sing and hear his insights on life, you are looking at the spitting image or clone of a teenage and young Bob Marley in recreation or reincarnation.

Likewise, for him, he believes fate brought him into a space where he represents the beloved deceased reggae artiste.

“Fun fact is, my mother met my father on the corner [intersection] of Marley Road on Hope Road [metres from the Bob Marley Museum] and then ever since, life just journeyed on,” Henriques told The Gleaner.

EARLY DAYS

Henriques grew up “all ‘bout in Kingston, Jamaica”, starting at Papine before moving to Mona, Barbican, Mountain View and other communities.

He started playing the guitar at age 17 and delved deeper through the Bob Marley catalogue. “[In] learning music, you have to go through Bob Marley catalogue, because it’s the most digestible music in the world, really and truly,” Henriques told The Gleaner. “It’s simple. It’s groovy. Good vibes. Yu nuh,” he said.

Before copping the prestigious role of playing a teenage and young Bob Marley, Henriques was “running di shop” for his mother, while pursuing his music and spending his time off in the studio where Sean Paul records.

Henriques – who is the cousin of the internationally renowned entertainer, soon to be styled as Dr Sean Paul Henriques, having been conferred with an honorary degree from the University of Technology – says music has been a joy for him since he became a teenager.

“Music has been like bells in my ears from ever since, and then getting this role. I never had any thoughts of doing music until I was in [my] late teens. It’s just one day I get up and I just start singing and I was [like], ‘You know, I have a nice little voice that can gyaan with a thing.’ And I just started feeling my blood [boiling] to go on the stage and dem stuff de, and could never. But I’m always trying, and I guess I got my opportunity later down after that,” Henriques said.

He said after he saw KBC’s casting call on Instagram for the movie Bob Marley: One Love, he was also encouraged by his peers to audition. Now, he has no regrets about doing it.

“For the in-person audition, I saw everybody else who came to play young Bob, and I just felt like it was mine,” Henriques said with a smile.

“I went in [and] typically when you go into an audition room, the producers and the directors are looking to see if they’ve found what they’ve wanted. So I introduced myself, went towards the lines, did them, and I saw some persons’ face [read] like, ‘Him do it good’, and it was a good vibration going in and coming out of that,” he said.

Additionally, Henriques knew his Afro hairstyle, the laid-back attitude and his love for music creation would help him secure the role.

When he got the call, he couldn’t help but make a lot of noise and went for his guitar and played the one thing that gives him comfort to this day: music.

POST ‘ONE LOVE’

While he prepares to audition for more movies, musically Henriques looks forward to creating albums and EPs soon.

So far, he has done two songs: Brimstone with Dutty Rock and Follow Your Heart with Bulbie.

“ Brimstone is as the name suggests, [about] social commentary, burning a fire, you know wa I mean. As a creative, I felt I am attached to the struggle that we go through. I talk a bit about that [in the song]. I talk a bit about policies and what’s not right; and Follow Your Heart is a simple, sweet love song. We want to hear more of that music and stuff, so we’re doing that,” he said.

“My music is going to be like an experience, yuh nuh. It’s like a spiritual experience. It’s going to be refreshing and you can expect nice compositions, and it [is] just going to be different from what’s going on now,” he said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com