One Bag Ah Tings With Fantan Mojah
Published:Monday | February 18, 2019 | 12:00 AM
When Owen Moncrieffe aka Fantan Mojah came on the entertainment scene in the early 2000's, he rocked Jamaica with chart topping hits such as Stronger and Rasta Got Soul. Through his conscious lyrics and baritone voice, Moncrieffe was able to evoke positivity and strength within anyone who decided to indulge in his music. Apart from his lyrics, Fantan Mojah, is famous for performing with a backpack for over a decade. After weeks of trying to contact the artiste, Flair Magazine was finally able to pin down the reggae star, who agreed to have us take a look inside his bag. We were so excited to be the first to witness Fantan Mojah's 'one bag a tings'.
"Everybody has been anticipating and waiting to ask what's in Fantan Mojah's bag. It has been a hidden kept secret and no one should know until you feel like revealing it," said Moncrieffe. With the camera ready, and photographer in position, we were all on standby to experience history right before our eyes.
"I am not ready to reveal the secret in my bag, but I can give you an idea of what is in it,"said Moncrieffe. What started as a fun and exciting venture, turned into chaos when Moncrieffe said he was not going to open his bag. As the reporter, I started to sweat. This man cannot be real. Did he understood what he agreed to? As I started to pray and beg the universe to tell me this was a joke, I spared a glance at my crew to see their reaction. My videographer was barely succeeding at containing his amusement and my photographer stopped taking photos and was staring at Moncrieffe in disbelief. Fantan Mojah threw the most epic monkey wrench into our execution and then proceeded to tell us what was inside the bag.
"I have poor people blood, sweat and tears in my bag," he said.
By that time I completely signed out and started to think where to find another story. What made matters worse, was that he tried to justify why he was not revealing the contents of his bag.
"Bob Marley walk with a bag and he did not show it like that. Jacob Miller, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, also walked with a bag and never show it like that, but I decided to get my bag famous. I am not a mean person in reaggae music," stated the artist.
Fantan Mojah claims the contents of his bag are for the less fortunate.
"There are youths in the street that look to Fanton Mojah for something. The poor people goodies inside the bag. Defender of the earth inside the bag. Righteousness and positivity inside the bag. Anything coming out of the bag will burn bad mind and wicked people," said Moncrieffe who embarked on a prolonged speech about the intangible contents inside his bag.
I started to look at the bag and wonder, if I was suppose to grab it and run, how far would I get and how much could I see before getting caught. I had no intention of bringing equipment and driving all the way to the studio location for this man and his gimmicks. There was no way I was going to leave empty handed.
Moncrieffe then suggested that we go inside the studio and listen to his latest tracks on an album he was working on. I looked at my team again and if they could roll over and holler, they would. Never in my entire professional life have I ever experienced anything like this. This was one big scam.
Eventually we left with the mystery of Fantan Mojah's backpack firmly intact. What is in the notorious bag? The world will never know. Maybe its his inspiration, his music and even his career, hidden deep inside it. After all, it has been a minute since we heard anything from the artiste. What do you believe is inside the bag?