Just over four years ago to the day, Rygin King was on top of the world. He had conquered Reggae Sumfest with a show-stealing onstage performance in 2018 that eclipsed all his rivals and announced the arrival of ‘Dancehall’s Baddest Ting’.

In the months afterwards, he enjoyed heady success and became known for hits like How Mi Grow, Tuff, Things Go Change, and Me Myself and I. His face and image dominated social media as the bloggers followed his every move. He toured Europe, the USA and Canada, and the hits just kept coming. He was on top of the world.

But then, as fate would have it, on June 28, 2020, everything changed.

SAVAGE NEW WORLD

After he was shot, Rygin King slipped in and out of consciousness for four days.

“Mi drugs up, mi no know what a gwaan,” he said.

When he regained consciousness, he awoke to a savage new world. He had been badly maimed in the attack and the doctors had grave news for him: his spine had been damaged and he may never walk again.

The news was like a gut punch, but Rygin King was not out of the woods yet.

He was airlifted from Westmoreland to Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), but when his fans began to show up and congregate on the wards, he was airlifted again to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), a move that saved his life because of the dedication of the nurses and doctors. When the fans began to descend on KPH, he was moved again to the CRH. When his lungs became infected, he was transferred to the National Chest Hospital, where the surgeons performed a life-saving operation on his lungs.

Throughout the process, Minister of Entertainment Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange played an instrumental role.

“I have to say a huge thank you to Minister Grange, she was like a mother to me, every step of the way, she ensured that I was OK, she checked up on me, she helped me to get access to the best specialists,” he said.

Most adults know that life is full of a series of small humiliations and Rygin King was about to run into an obstacle course littered with such.

“I want to thanks to Ms Merchant from the Chest Hospital and Ms Peterkin at the hospital in Trelawny, and all the CNAs, security, ancillary staff, everybody for the great job they did to keep me alive,” Rygin King said.

“Mi nah tell no lie, mi want to give a special shout out to the health care officers. Dem health care workers, dem do a great job, you know being an artiste, not saying mi higher than nobody, but mi forward down to the human being level and know say, watch ya now, you know the person who ah go clean you right now, yu a big man and yu nuh know her, but dem glad fi see yu but dem ah act professional and do dem job. Yu as yourself in the situation, yu feel humiliated, yu feel a way,” he said.

“You know how yu feel fi know somebody say to yu, ‘mi brother ah do music and dem look up to you’ but by 2 o clock, dem ah go come fi clean yu and is not your family, is a stranger,” he added.

Fast forward two years, and King has been forced to watch the spectacle of this year’s Reggae Sumfest unfold with a new cast of trap-dancehall stars – a movement he helped to create — from the sidelines.

This simple act mirrors the reality of his daily life: Rygin has been forced to watch his life through a different lens as he grapples with the new realities.

The world is a tough classroom sometimes, but the savvy Rygin King has always been a fast learner.

“Since this happen to me, it show me a lot, mi a wonder if a God ah show me say ‘alright mi ah go mek yu walk again’ but right now, mi a show yu say most of dem people ya no real….cause mi learn so many things so till it painful,” Rygin King said.

“It look like mi never did waan learn certain tings and this had to happen to teach me. Where the whole ah dem man dem who did de round me? Weh the whole ah dem man de who did de round me? The least of things, if me touch the road so, mi caan even carry mi daughter go buy some things . Where the whole ah dem people de when mi need help the most?” he asked.

THERAPY

The core group still remains, his manager Ramsay and his street godfather, Eddie. Last year, Rygin King jetted to a top rated hospital in New York for treatment on his spinal injury.

“Ms Grange is a remarkable woman, just the energy she give me. When me come to my senses, she mek sure most things good with me, she put me to two people so I could reach out to the hospital over in the US. This is a very expensive hospital, the first money mi hear ’bout is US$100,000 and that ah fi just start, and mi say ‘jah know’,” he said.

“Mi never have 100,000 just put down so, so yu know how that go already.”

In the United States, spinal cord injuries (SCI) that produce incomplete motor function at any level cost an average of US$347,000, according to medical journals online.

After the first year, costs tend to go down. Those with high tetraplegia incur costs of about US$184,000 annually, compared to US$113,000 for people with low tetraplegia. Paraplegia costs about US$69,000 each year, while incomplete motor function produces the lowest costs, of about US$42,000. As a result of these high medical expenses, the loss of earning potential is one of the most significant expenses for SCI survivors.

It’s been a long slog since the gun attack, and daily, Rygin King has had to dig deep to some untapped reservoir within to motivate himself.

“By the grace of God, mi have to motivate miself, from this happen, ah that mi been ah do. Without being around no one, and create this album that mi create , mi nah tell yu no lie, is a remarkable, mi record the song, and build the song dem, mi ah artiste slash engineer, mi learn miself, mi did haffi learn miself because everybody gone,” he said.

The artiste’s upcoming album, ‘Therapy’ , will be released on September 9 with highly anticipated singles such as ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Circumstances’, ‘Broken’ and the title track, ‘Therapy’. The heartbreaking visuals for the single, ‘Therapy’, will be released on August 5. The album will also be available for pre-order on all digital online platforms.

“This is not just physical but mental therapy. I have not been around no one and mi mek this album. One of the songs name Therapy. Another one is called Wake Me up which is the exact story that happen, God bless me that it is so remarkable, me can describe the picture without the picture there. I have one called ‘Broken’,” Rygin explained.

DEM MURDER MI EGO

Rygin revealed that one of his favourite tracks is ‘Broken’ because it addresses his broken body, damaged spine, his shattered ego and his unbreakable and unyielding spirit and self-belief.

“In this song, mi ah talk about the things that uplift me, because dem try to bruk mi spirit, and is a real ting mi a tell yu. Believe me, being here by myself, looking around and know say mi name Rygin King, everytime somebody see me, dem give me the effect say me a Rygin King, but mi nah go round yu, it not the same, dem murder me ego,” he said.

Most days, Rygin admits to being a mere mortal, just ordinary Matthew Smith since the incident.

“Dem kill me ego, mi no have da ting de ’bout mi where if mi did all feel say me woulda waan go pon the media more while, mi caan do it, believe me, mi nuh fraid fi talk. Mi wi all de ya and waan go live and mi no know wah ah stop me, is the ego mi no have again,” he said almost dejectedly.

On the bright side, Rygin disclosed that the experience has transformed him and opened his ‘third eye’, and elevated his perception of life and events.

“Even things weh mi feel Rygin woulda waan do, mi don’t want to do again, but mi feel like mi just a walk pon water, mi third eye open certain way, mi caan believe mi did haffi go through this situation fi see things, mi say ‘jah know yute, yu couldn’t see dem tings de before?’, mi pay a heavy price but mi did haffi learn,” Rygin said.

It’s a hard knock life, but Rygin knows the King will rise again.

“We nah go ever give up,” he said.