Although music was his first love, Mikaido Portuondo, otherwise called Huda Road Star, decided to start operating a taxi in order to make a living.

Portuondo, who was 24 years old at the time, recalled driving an illegal, white licence plate 1989 Nissan B12 vehicle. However, he told the Jamaica Observer he was constantly targeted by the Transport Authority and police. He said, after the vehicle was seized for the fifth time by the Transport Authority in 2014, he finally decided to start driving for a policeman, who had a licensed taxi.

“You see the fifth time them [Transport Authority] take weh mi car, mi just lef’ it a di pound fi one year and amnesty come seh you as the owner get first preference fi buy it back. You see when mi go down a that, a rat a jump outta mi car! So mi buy back mi car fi $30,000 and then mi end up sell it,” Portuondo stated, noting that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines while he was operating his vehicle illegally.

“Fi tell yu truth, it rough if yu nuh own the car fi yourself, and fi say yu a go put down a money fi all buy a next car and put red plate on [the] car, trust me. From all a dem years deh, a since now me a drive my car, a seven-seater, mi a see the money out a taxi thing,” the 37-year-old continued, confirming that he has had this vehicle for close to three years now.

Speaking on the hardship that local taxi drivers face, Portuondo said that passengers on his route should be understanding when drivers charge $150 for the fare, instead of $120 because, according to him, “gas raising every day”.

“Overall, we fi just try fi find out why the gas a raise up so, and try fi mek certain things go down instead of a point on one man a seh that too much. Mi understand seh people pay fi raise, too, because if them a go pay more fi taxi fare and them fare nah raise, you know, a less money them carry home. It just messed up overall, but mi realise seh them like pick pan taxi man, Taxi man deserve the fare increase,” he told the Observer, adding that he believes the Transport Authority treats taxi drivers unfairly.

“Because wi legal to a level, but yet still them come a road a pressure wi and a talk ’bout badge, and waan give you [court] summons fi some little simple thing. So after you pay this bag a money fi get your red plate them still come a road and a pressure you,” Portuondo said.

The experience, he said, prompted him to write a song.

“Mi see how taxi thing hard, and mi see how Transport Authority pressure white plate man, and them time deh dem never did a facilitate enough white plate fi people get legal. Because, if they were, mi woulda get legal long time, you know. So the pressure weh wi did under fi know seh wi create a job, since enough job never inna di country, and mi see how transport and some police pressure wi, mi end up build a tune,” Portuondo said, noting that he received the name “Huda” from his father when he was a child. He explained that it has its origin in Africa and it roughly translates to warrior.

“I was doing music before I came into taxi thing, because I’ve been doing music from school. Literally, Bounty Killer a mi DJ. Mi did live a Oaklands Apartment, Constant Spring Road, so a deh so mi meet Bounty Killer and then mi pick up back the DJ thing, serious,” he added.

Name: Mikaido Portuondo

Age: 37 year old

Length of career: 13 years

Route: Price Rite, Red Hills, St Andrew to Half-Way-Tree