In the 1990s, David Minott was a member of a formidable songwriting team at Anchor Recording, arguably the hottest studio in reggae. But while rubbing shoulders with stars like Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor and Gregory Isaacs was cool, he stepped away from producer Gussie Clarke’s label for a solo career as David M.

He said there was a yearning to do something different than reggae.

“Jamaican artistes do get pigeonholed as reggae artistes and if you are not doing straight reggae, your music is hard to be placed for play on other country’s radio stations, with the rigid formats of today. But, you know, at the end of the day an artiste has to be true to himself and create the music he loves,” said David M.

Last January saw the re-release of This is Our World, a song he first recorded nine years ago. It addresses global disregard for the environment and turmoil among world leaders.

David M has been involved in environmental matters all his life. His family owns a waste disposal business and he has worked on numerous related projects throughout the country.

“Over the years myself and the business have pushed for more environmentally-friendly methods of disposal, for recycling, waste reduction and have taken in so much information on the planet’s destruction both professionally and personally,” he said.

David M has a similar passion for international affairs. In 2009, his anti-war song Lest We Forget was lauded by a number of high-profile persons including the family of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.

It also caught the attention of administrators at the United Nations who approached the singer/songwriter to compose a song that turned out to be This is Our World, for its Players For Peace project. That initiative folded after a matter of months, but with relations between Russia and Ukraine fractious, David M was inspired to add new lyrics to the song and re-release it.

Howard Campbell