When a scuba diver comes up from the deep too quickly, the rapid decrease in pressure can give case of “the bends” or decompression sickness or barotrauma.

Bubbles of gas sometimes build up in the diver’s body, causing pain and other potentially fatal effects.

Reggae singer Black Fyah is no stranger to this. It is a hazard of his job, a hazard that has claimed the lives of his closest colleagues, crippled him for over one year, and even claimed the life of his beloved brother.

“The bends ah one wicked ting; it can cripple you and even kill you,” Black Fyah said. The sea is dangerous and beautiful inna one entity.

“My brother died from decompression sickness, the bends — is a ting weh go inna yu blood line; is like air in your system and lock off the blood from flow through the body. It can cause minor strokes, it can cripple you up, bend you up, mek yuh look disabled,” he said.

Black Fyah himself was crippled by the bends and he still carries a noticeable limp today.

“The bends weh mi ketch, mi get a hard lick, ah just Jah give mi the strength. Mi foot cyaan touch ground, mi penis have in a big hose in it, it cause infection, mi balls swell up big… she haffi use hot water and ice fi deal with it,” he said.

The artiste said he checked out of the hospital early and returned to his Port Henderson road fishing community to recover. And, over the course of 18 months, Black Fyah nursed himself back to health with the help of his spiritual advisor as well as his family and friends.

“Doctors sign up say mi write-off; dem say mi cyaan walk back, no feelings in my body,” he recounted.

He had just sung his most popular song, On My Way, and his career was on the rise when he had the mishap in 2020.

“Mi have to go Cane River, Salt River, and the minerals twice. Mi go Hellshire go bury miself under the sand nine morning straight spiritually and pray to the sun when it ah raise to take the nitrogen out of my system. Mi bredda, Jermaine, was there, the man who help me walk back, but later on, he died by the same ting,” he said.

He loves the sea because of the feeling of euphoria and freedom it generates in his soul. But he knows the dangers a bit too intimately as he has lost over 10 family members and friends to the treacherous sea over the years.

“Police go on operation, him no come back. Gangsta go pon ops, him no come back. Babymother go have her baby, she don’t mek it; is a life journey. Death no care about nobody, sometimes yuh see signs and wonders, but yuh nah listen. Yuh get the warning; it come in front of your face and yuh play blind game and is just a judgement,” he said.

Black Fyah wrote a song titled Where Are You? based on his experiences and which was released a few months ago.

He is now promoting a new single, Ghetto Pain, which he released with a video two months ago via the 9Miles Records label.

“Ghetto Pain is picking up traction in the streets. It was added to rotation [on many radio station]… It’s a great look,” he said.