IF THERE IS ANYONE who can tell you never to give up on your dreams, it is Nesbeth.
For those who don’t know who Nesbeth is, YouTube has most of his musical history. He isn’t a new face on the scene but what he has done is release one of the biggest songs in his homeland last year – My Dream (in October).
The Jamaican reggae artiste is savouring his popularity right now, and it is safe to say he is living at least part of his dream.
Nesbeth, who was speaking to THE NATION after his performance at the Digicel Reggae On The Hill at Farley Hill, said he is still pinching himself.
Life for Nesbeth hasn’t been easy and he was hard hit last year by the death of his wife at a time when his just-released My Dream was heating up the airwaves.
He is still in mourning, as evidenced by the tribute he paid to his childhood sweetheart in his performance with the song he sang at her funeral.
Born Greg Nesbeth, he came from humble beginnings. He grew up in the tough inner-city community of Trench Town, where the less-fortunate gather together, not by choice.
“It was my mum and dad barely making two ends meet for me and my siblings. So starting music was another way to make sure I do something and keep it positive,” he said, adding that it was also to make his parents proud.
He recorded his first single, Reflection Of Love, in 1993, after his friends persuaded him that he had potential.
The past student of Charlie Smith Comprehensive High School said it was time to get his life on track.
With more singles released but not getting much love, Nesbeth’s dream of making it big was slowing, becoming just that – a dream.
One day that all changed and that was the day he wrote the lyrics to My Dream.
“I was actually daydreaming at the time. I am the type of person who will analyse myself. I will definitely sit down and question myself, asking if I am comfortable where I am at. And if so, why? And if I am not, why? 
“Personally, at the time I didn’t think I was getting the love that I would really want or the love that an entertainer should be getting. Then I realised there was no one to be blamed but myself.”
Nesbeth said it was on him to do the work and get it right.
He said the daydreams were about being on big stages, like in Barbados, where he performed for the first time.
“That is where the song started, from two lines – “tours after tours, shows after shows” – and I was thinking that if I ever get the chance to go on a tour I would have that song as a part of my catalogue and I would do it as a fact of it actually happening.”
The song has now taken the place by storm.
That day his friend Merrick Shaw was there and they decided to put more words to the two lines.
“I’ll tell you this much: the rest is history. And if I try to explain My Dream to the depths I would be lying. I can tell you this much . . . the words are nice and the melody is infectious and the riddim is different and they all play a significant role.
“But the spiritual aspect to My Dream goes way beyond what words can explain. I am still learning about the spiritual aspect to My Dream. But I know that it was a song that was supposed to come about in this time.”
And he is right. Videos posted on social media have shown the crowd singing the song word for word, not giving Nesbeth any chance to sing. He has visited many schools and the children do the same. Performing at shows in Jamaica he has sung the song almost six times in a row. And to put the icing on the cake, his song was used at the inauguration ceremony of the new prime minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness.
“I love to feel the energy. So I just have to continue to call on the Most High and let him take me through it step by step.
“When I saw the prime minister come an stage next to me and sign the song I couldn’t believe it. That song isn’t for me to sing alone. At that standard, at that level, a prime minister can come and sing the song then it simply means that it is not a Nesbeth song anymore.”
Nesbeth said he realises he can’t say My Dream anymore as it is a world dream.
“I am happy for that”, he said, chuckling. “It’s not like I am sad about that. What I am really, truly happy about is that the song is inspiring and looking on the faces of these people singing the song I can definitely feel that natural vibration. Even if they didn’t have a dream, the fact they are singing the song [means] they now have a dream.”
Nesbeth released an EP, Victory, in 2014 and is now doing new music (he has a new song called D.I.A.L (Devil Is A Liar) and has tours after tours and shows after shows lined up.
He so loved his time in Barbados that he said he has told his management team to keep the dates free and to listen out for the call.
Nesbeth said he was still on his route of a musical journey and “my dream is to live my dream”, he said, bursting out in song. (NS)
