5 Questions with Nadine Sutherland

On Saturday, Nadine Sutherland will receive the Key to the City of Tamarac, Florida, and the Key to Broward County, in recognition of her exceptional contribution to Jamaican music and lasting cultural impact across the Caribbean diaspora. The keys will be presented during the second annual Red Gala at the Tamarac Community Center. The first winner of the ‘Tastee Talent Contest’, Sutherland was the first artiste signed by Bob Marley to Tuff Gong and has been a musical and cultural ambassador for Jamaica for 45 years.

This week, 5 Questions With ... gets up close with the vivacious and super talented Nadine Sutherland.

1. You will be presented with the Keys to the City of Tamarac in Florida. What does this honour mean to you?

I’m extremely honoured ... I am happy that I stuck it through, because there were moments when I felt that I didn’t want anything to do with the music, and I left the music, but the music grabbed me back. So it was more powerful than me, and it seemed as if God made me to do this. And I’m just proud that my parents are alive to see all of the hard work ... of over 45 years now... that there is some recognition.

My mother was the person who [bought] my likkle blue dress for Tastee and get the dressmaker to mek the red shirt for me and get the black, velvet pants and get my hair ‘cane row’ for the finals of Tastee. She’s still here. Daddy was always with me, protecting me, and he’s still here. 
So, the most important thing for me is that my parents are still here. And I’m proud, and I’m honoured.


2. What keeps you inspired and energised to continue doing music, and have you ever considered other options?

Four decades later, I still love whining up myself and jumping up onstage. I still love the interaction with my audience. I love to sing, but more than anything else, I love to present myself in a way that I’m proud of. I don’t like mediocrity ... recording-wise and stage-wise. So, when I did Best of the Best [stageshow] the other day, I guh do more dance training. If I think I need voice training, I’ll do it. So, I’m always thinking that I’m a work in progress.

So, I love the challenge of it and putting the clothes together and all of that, you know? I’ve considered other stuff. I did a master’s in cultural studies, and I got a good job in New York as a director for the performing arts, and I was developing young performing arts practitioners, and I loved it. So that was a great job, and I have considered doing more, but, these days, it’s the music. I don’t know what God has planned for me, but we give God thanks for everything.

3. How much do you remember about walking into Tuff Gong Records as a little girl to record ‘Starvation on the Land’, and what was your impression of Bob Marley?

I’ve never forgotten walking into Tuff Gong because the first person that I saw was Diane Jobson, and Diane was exquisite. She still is. She was one of the ‘Tastee Talent Contest’ judges. Sangie Davis was saying, ‘Go with Paul Blake’, and Dianne was saying that ‘I’m going to go with a little girl’. She was Bob Marley’s attorney. Diane Jobson came running to the gate when me and daddy came to Tuff Gong. She introduced us to Bob.

Oh, Bob was beautiful! Bob’s skin was beautiful! I recognised that, you know, he got his diagnosis and all of that, but he was looking healthy. He was looking beautiful. He was smiling. He heard everything about me and was pretty excited... . His greeting for me was so incredible, because Bob at that time was a major superstar. So I always said to people Bob was one of the most benevolent [people] that I know because I’ve seen him in his benevolence and I have witnessed his benevolence.

4. ‘Action’, your collab with Terror Fabulous, is a dancehall classic. What are your favourite memories behind its creation, and did you think it would have been a mega-hit?

I had no idea that Action would be doing what it’s doing. Actually, it was supposed to be a demo for me when Erskine Thompson ... God rest his soul ... was trying to get me signed to record companies. Initially, he was like, ‘do R&B’ and all that, but he changed the trajectory. I started doing dancehall and Action was one of my demos, but Dave Kelly released it to the Jamaican market and it mash up the dancehall.

Then, it naturally transitioned into ethnic markets... . And then Electra signed Terror, and then Action became this major hit ... and still is an international hit. When dancehall plays anywhere in the world, Action is one of the songs that will be played. Yeah, the memory. (Laughs) At that time I was doing modern dance and ballet ... and me a dance while recording it. Maybe that’s why Action sound so nice ... .

5. You have expressed your truth about facing a “boy’s club mindset” and ageism/sexism in the industry. What advice do you give to young female artistes today?

In my time, Bob Marley and Tuff Gong never did a think bout my gender ... but by the ‘90s, others would want to trivialise me and put me into a box. But I think my talent spoke for itself, and over time, my mindset and my professionalism made me stand strong in an industry that was engineered towards man.

So, now, I’m facing ageism, and it’s probably the same thing; that my talent stands strong. Me nuh watch no face, me go onstage, and God is giving me the energy and I just do what I can do, and I do it well.

When I’m performing in front of the people dem I will put on my good clothes and my makeup. They pay their money to see me, so I don’t take these things for granted. I go there with certain standards, and I present the best possible version of myself.

To young female vocalists, I’m gonna advise you along the line[s] that I did it. I was true to myself. I have been authentic. I invest in my betterment ... go school to better myself, train at the gym almost every day. I don’t abuse my voice. And yeah, it’s a sexist industry, but I’ve had men who have supported me, and I want to be very, very balanced with that.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com