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Meet Guyana’s James Bond

Ever since the release of the “Whine Pon meh Button” song, which has been creating some stir on the airwaves and at dancehall parties, many thought that the singer was from one of the Caribbean islands but in actuality, he is from a small village on the East Coast of Demerara called Plaisance.

The 33-year-old father of three, MI Bernard also called “James Bond” is ecstatic about the great reviews of the song which has put him on the music chart in Guyana. Born to Colin Clarks and Coreen Bernard, this budding artiste is ready for fame.

His song, “Whine Pon meh Button” is known to the young and old and is being played on every music cart in the city, in minibuses and even in the barber shops, among other places. MI, Bernard referred to himself as “Mission Impossible” claiming that he is on a mission to be one of the best dancehall artistes in the Guyana.

Although dropping out of school at an early age, this young man gained his knowledge while socialising in the “ghetto” which is not a bad place after all. Living with his mother and six siblings at their Lot 17 Prince William Street, Plaisance home, he was brought up during tough times but this did not take away his passion for music.

At the age of 12, he started to sing on street corners in his village and would do so on busy days at the market square and was successful in drawing an audience. During those years, he met Roger Gullen who encouraged him to take up the art form after he recognised his potential.

Gullen promised to create the beats to go with his song but Bernard did not take him seriously and went along his merry way. After sometime, he met another influential person, Marlon Duke (Rain Drops), now his sound engineer who offered to mix some of the sounds to accompany his voice.

They eventually established a bedroom studio and started to experiment. His first tune “Skin to Skin” made it to the radio and was heard by other deejays, promoters and entertainers including Roger Gullen. In light of his success with the tune, Gullen erected the Amazonian Records Studio at Plaisance/Industry New Annex where all the recordings are done. This has definitely contributed to his success thus far.

He is presently ready to release two other songs which he is certain will create the same buzz as “Whine Pon meh Button”. These are “Man Lie” and “Gal let’s sex”. These songs, he explained are done with the intention of getting the ladies closer to him.

With respect to the “button” song, he explained that he was at a party in the village where he met a young lady and they started to dance. During the dance, he realised that his pants had become slack and when he looked down, he realised that his button had fallen off. This he noted gave him the idea to write such a song which has its connotative meanings.

The rhythm is basically dancehall and it was composed by his sound engineer who built it from scratch and is most definitely loved by the public.

His greatest mentors in music include Richie Spice, Mavado and Christopher Martin whom he hopes to meet one day. While he is concentrating on becoming “big” in the local music industry, he has no plans to go abroad but to stay in his country and develop his musical career.

The buzzing artiste is expected to perform at his first major show at the Guyana Football Club ground on February 23 with Aidonia and his Guyanese Colleague, Lil Million.
He is also slated to perform at the Buxton Mash Jump Up and will be travelling to Essequibo and Berbice shortly to entertain his audience there. On this note, he is also expected to release his first soca song called “Soca Animal” in time for Mash 2014.