RAS ILEY, who is celebrating 25 years in the entertainment industry this year, will not be participating in the Crop-Over season because of injury to his spine.

by MARIA BRADSHAW

BARBADOS' most energetic calypsonian Darcy Ras Iley Small will not be jumping, prancing or shaking his six-foot locks this year.

The diminutive Ras Iley, who celebrates 25 years in the entertainment business this year, is suffering from sciatica – a pain caused by a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve in the lower back.

It has forced him to scrap his plans for a big Crop-Over celebration this season.

During an interview with the DAILY NATION yesterday, Ras Iley explained that he was in excruciating pain and was taking time to let his body recuperate.

The former jockey, who is an entertainer and a farmer, said all those strenuous tasks contributed to his injury.

"I can't sit down for too long. I can't drive anything manual. I am in a lot of pain in the lower part of my spine," he stated.

He is also under strict doctors' orders to rest.

"I had plans to celebrate my 25 years in entertainment this year but I have to rest. I have notified people. The public have been hearing songs and they have not heard Ras Iley. But when you look at the quality of music that I have been producing since the 1980s, and my reputation, I can't resort to any sound because it would ruin what I spent so many years to build and what I have with my fans," he noted.

But the 44-year-old who became the 1986 Road March King with his signature song Spring Garden On Fire, is still planning to hold his 25th anniversary celebrations later this year. He also has new material which he will release around that time and he has a scheduled performance in Boston in November.

And he said a resounding "no" to the question that many people have asked him – Did his injury come from his crowning glory?

"I asked the doctors and they said my locks had nothing to do with it," he said, managing a faint smile.

Ras Iley is confident that he will get back to form and he wants his fans to give him all the love and support they can as he tries to heal his body.

"To come onto the stage I have to be fully fit. I can't stand up and do nothing like Shadow. I have to be energetic," he stated.