Q & A with Bascom X

Bascom X @ Fully Loaded 2K5

Peppa Pot: Bascom X tell us where you are from:

Bascom X: I m from Portmore St. Catherine. You know Ja naturally. I was born in Tivoli Gardens 1978 August 30th but I grew up in Portmore, Sunshine city.

Peppa Pot: How was life growing up?

Bascom X: My father died before I was born. My father was a shotta what dem woulda call him in Jamaica a Don. I was raised by my mother and grandmother (my father s mother). Most of my time was split between Kingston and Trelawny. On every holiday I would go to Trelawny to spend time with my grandmother. When school started I went back to Kingston, so from country to town and back again - that s how you keep a balance with nature.

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Peppa Pot: How did you get into music?

Bascom X:From I was a little lad I was always talented. Whether it come to dancing or any little thing I always found myself in the spotlight. People always saw a shining light in my as did my mother. From dancing I just started listening to music a lot. On the way to school I used to always listen to Half Pint, Jr. Reid and Tenor Saw because I really loved dancehall. My stepfather used to push cart go a dance and sell liquors and things. I would always have to be there and help around and pick up the bottles. That gave me the opportunity to be in the dancehall from the early 80s listening to people like Barry G who used to play at Portmore Bayside. I d go to stage shows and listen to men like Michael Buckly and a whole variety of artists so the music grew within me. That s how it really started from I was a little yute, growing up listening to the music and going to dances with my stepfather and my brother.

Peppa Pot: What did you family think about you taking music seriously?

Bascom X: My mother always saw the buzz, the flair, fire, I had about me in my eye. I loved the spotlight, loved when people looked at me and she saw that. When I was younger I used to break dance, those were the days of Slick Rick. So she always knew I had a pick for the music. Attending school kinda crossed with going to the studio. I sometimes would skip school to go to the studio. That s the only problem I had with my mother. That was the passion for me going to the studio. In school I wasn t a dull kid, always bright, I never had a problem with school work. People would always tell me that I need to learn my lesson because you always have to have education in everything that you re doing. But from ever since I always knew the basics reading, writing and expressing myself in class. The teacher would always call me and say "Yes you Sudlow, stand up and quote what you think" or "Read for the class". I was never nervous reading for the class, never. You know some people, when the teacher say read this paragraph, they would stutter. I always had my hand up first because I was proud to read. That s what my mother taught from early. So the only problem was that I would say today I m going to school tomorrow i m going to the studio - tomorrow studio, the other day studio, the next day school. Not saying that It is a good thing - I m not trying to bring that across to anyone that skipping school for studio is good because not everyone has the same luck - you understand? But my mother never had a doubt. She would always say "Find something constructive, something that would pay off." I just had the love and passion so I just kept on doing it - it was never hard to do.

Peppa Pot: How does she feel about your success now?

Bascom X: Come on - naturally she s proud. Talk loud of me, proud of me. Because she grew me by herself, she struggled with three kids. She worked and sent three of us to school. That was really hard for a mother because she has three responsibilities plus herself and then she still has to pay rent and bring in food. None of us had any income so it was all about Mommy at that time. Even to this day breaking out on the music scene is a victory for my mother not only me because now she can relax and say yes that s her son. Anything she needs now she can call on me. It s not like I m one of the deejays who love the hype and go out and spend unnecessary money and try to say I m hype because me, Bascom I m never hype I m simple. I learned that from my mother because my mother is one of the simplest lady ever. So to this day when people might say I heard your son s song on the radio or i saw your son in the paper or on the internet - that just brings joy to her - she smile a whole leap.

Because back then a lot of people probably thought I wasn t going to reach anywhere because people always try to put doubt in others. Those things never fazed me. So as I said it s a victory for me, my friends, my family, and especially my mother.

Bascom X @ Fully Loaded 2K5

Peppa Pot: How did you get the name Bascom X?

Bascom X: Back in Jamaica Professor Nuts had a tune that went "Bad, Bad, Bad Boy Jimmy Jimmy / Bad, Bad, Bad Boy Jimmy Jimmy / Jimmy is a man wheh would drink him rum / drunk to the last and him ah tumble down" Jimmy was Jimmy Bascom. My father s real name is James. My father was from Rema, Trench Town. My father was a real Top Top Top Man back in the days with Jim Brown, Curly Locks and dem man de. So people would see me and say, "Jimmy bwoy, Ah Jimmy bwoy dis yu nuh" So me in the music thing asked what am I going to name myself? Everyone knows me as Jimmy. So I thought Jimmy B? But I said I m not going to feel that - Jimmy B. At this time in the early 90 s the power shirt came out, the black power shirts. Then the Malcolm X shirts came out that s how I learned about the man from Harlem I learned how he fought to unify Black People. Then I watched the movie Malcolm X and said that yute was powerful. The man did not fear death or anything. So then I decide Bascom X would be my name. Someone said why X, X means wrong. But I said check it - X means X marks the spot. The whole image of X is a warning. So Bascom X is a warning, warning the people from danger warning them from doing wrong.

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