On the four original songs, he addresses the wrong turns of “Street Life,” violent tendencies in “War,” love for his late grandmother in “Broken Link” and equality in “Born To Be Free.” Hitting on topics with which many can identify or understand, the penetrating song “Street Life,” produced by CoLa, became an immediate hit on Toronto's urban radio station Flow 93.5 FM. The track made it to #1 within weeks, and held its place at the top for four consecutive weeks!
“‘Street Life’ is my own experience with some people I hang around with, the things I see happening here in Canada,” explains Obie. “In Jamaica, it’s a different way of life down there and to come up here and see that people are suffering from the same things that we are suffering from there, and they have all these opportunities, but they’re still on the street trying, it’s understandable because some people aren’t coming from the best homes. They don’t have role models to look up to. I touch on all of that in the song.”
Born Mohanza Kelly in Jamaica, he was nicknamed “Obie” by his grandfather who won a Derby bet with a racehorse named Obie Wan Kenobi and declared his young grandson a good luck charm. His upbringing wasn’t privileged, but he didn’t know any better. “I just took it how it came,” he says.
Obie grew up in the church and has strong Christian beliefs, wanting to make a difference. He started singing in the church, eventually leading his youth choir, but he was also drawn to dancehall, soul and reggae music. “The message in reggae songs is something that I can relate to my own life,” says Obie. “Back in Jamaica, we were barely making ends meet and that’s what reggae music is — you sing about the struggles that people go through.”
In 2001, at age 16, Obie’s mother, who was already living in Toronto, brought him and his sister to Canada. He had graduated from high school in Jamaica and planned to go to university here, but discovered that the system didn’t acknowledge Jamaican education as equal. Obie had to return to grade 10 and was understandably discouraged. “I started falling off,” he admits. “So I surrounded myself with music to get my life back on track.”
Obie soon found out about Central Tech high school, which had a remarkable music program, including two in-house recording studios on which to learn. He transferred mid semester from another school in Rexdale and immersed himself in recording engineering. “I’d hang around the studio and learn stuff in the environment,” he says. “Being in Canada, I saw the different possibilities for things that I could do with myself and I started reflecting.” Obie cut some tracks at Central Tech, including “Keep The Dream Alive” to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. After graduating from Central Tech he worked at The Remix Project, a government-funded studio which allows up-and-comers to sign up, come in for an interview process, and get approval to record there for free. There, he cut such tracks as “Street Life,” “War” and “One In A Million.” Now he is an audio engineer at Toronto studio The Loft, where he finished up his debut EP, taking “War” and “Street Life” and combining them with “Broken Link” and “Born To Be Free.”
“War” is a killer dancehall-flavoured reggae-based track featuring rapper Krymes. “I can only write about the environment I see. Every summer is like a season for violence,” Obie says of the lyrical inspiration. “As soon as the weather gets a little warm, people start getting crazy. So the way I approached the track is ‘Why is this happening, people walking on the street beefing on each other for no reason?’”
“Broken Link,” he wrote for his grandma who passed away in 1998 in Jamaica. “I still have trouble with it because I grew up with her,” he says. “She was my mentor, my mother, everything in one. She would really look out for me and when she passed I wasn’t even there. I was coming from school and it was tragic the way I found out and it stuck with me. It’s saying if I get the chance to meet her again, how much I would tell her I love her.”
For “Born To Be Free,” Obie sampled Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have A Dream" speech and used snippets throughout the song. “He’s saying everybody’s one, we should be able to fight together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that one day we’ll be free — that’s the parts of his speech I used,” says Obie.
And Obie too, even at 23, would like to make a difference. “As a person and as a musician, I’m a big advocate of humanitarian acts. I think my purpose is to help the less fortunate in any way I can and use music as a tool to really get to them, as a medium to communicate with them,” says Obie. “So I see myself in the future owning some enterprises, but at the same time I’m going to go back to my home country or to Africa or wherever help is needed and try and set up a studio. I’m trying to use music as a tool to promote positive change.”
Paco
Obie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De repente llega Paco con su guille del Mesías
Quiere abrir la vieja iglesia y me ofreció ser diácono
Quiere hacer de cuatro tablas un pequeño vaticano
En bersen de new que profecía
Empeñado en el proceso y sus preparativos
Fue regando la noticia al que encontraba en su camino
Porque piensan que ahora tienen quien por ellas rinda cuentas
Un hombre en la búsqueda total
De una vida nueva y diferente
Pero le quedan cosas por cambiar
Pero él dice que no es nada urgente
Ay, Paco, Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Como el gran Jordán tú verás acumulando puntos llegarás
Ay, Paco, Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Suenan las campanas y quizás un gran ministro tú serás
Un domingo en la mañana mientras Paco predicaba
De las cosas que en la iglesia se supone no se hablaran
Quiso hacer mención de la palabra abiertamente
Y al instante se esfumó el gozo que habitaba entre la gente
Un hombre en la búsqueda total
De una vida nueva y diferente
Pero le quedan cosas por cambiar
Pero él dice que no es nada urgente
Ay, Paco, Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Como el gran Jordán tú verás acumulando puntos llegarás
Ay, Paco, Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Suenan las campanas y quizás un gran ministro tú serás
Poco a poco fueron quedando sin el Mesías
Y es obvio que el mensaje escuchar nadie quería
Y una voz en el silencio a Paco le decía
Es que muchas veces la verdad es como un baño de agua fría
Decidido a cultivar las flores de su pueblo
En un monte de ladrillos frialdad y tiroteo
Dejó atrás el pulpito y las cuatro paredes
Regresó a la esquina Paco a cumplir con sus santos deberes
Ay, Paco, Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Como el gran Jordán tú verás acumulando puntos llegarás
Ay, Paco Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Suenan las campanas y quizás un gran ministro tú serás
The song Paco by Obie is a story about a man named Paco, who believes he is the Messiah and wants to turn an old church into a small Vatican. He wants to become a deacon and preaches to people, hoping to accumulate points and become a great minister. However, when he tries to speak the truth openly in the church, people do not want to hear it, and he is left without followers. He then decides to leave the church and its four walls behind and return to the streets to do good deeds, fulfilling his duties as a saint.
The lyrics are a commentary on the human desire to find meaning in life and to try and make a difference in the world. Paco represents the messianic figure and his quest for transcendence, while the church represents the established order that is resistant to change. The song suggests that sometimes the truth is hard to stomach, and people prefer to live in their own comfortable illusions rather than face reality. Paco's journey is a reminder that sometimes the best way to make a difference is to go outside the walls of institutions and make a positive impact in your own community.
Line by Line Meaning
Delirando en las aceras llenas de ironía
Walking crazily on the streets full of irony
De repente llega Paco con su guille del Mesías
Suddenly, Paco arrives with his Messiah vibe
Quiere abrir la vieja iglesia y me ofreció ser diácono
He wants to open an old church and offered me to be a deacon
Quiere hacer de cuatro tablas un pequeño vaticano
He wants to create a small Vatican out of four boards
En bersen de new que profecía
In exchange for something new that he prophesizes
Empeñado en el proceso y sus preparativos
Determined to go through with the process and his preparations
Fue regando la noticia al que encontraba en su camino
He spread the news to anyone he encountered
Mientras que en la casa las dos hijas bien contentas
While at home, the two daughters were happy
Porque piensan que ahora tienen quien por ellas rinda cuentas
Because they think they now have someone to take responsibility for them
Un hombre en la búsqueda total
A man in search of something entirely new
De una vida nueva y diferente
Of a new and different life
Pero le quedan cosas por cambiar
But he still has some things to change
Pero él dice que no es nada urgente
But he says it's not urgent
Ay, Paco, Paco predícame, yo nunca había oído nada igual
Oh, Paco, Paco, preach to me, I've never heard anything like this before
Como el gran Jordán tú verás acumulando puntos llegarás
Like the great Jordan, you will see it accumulating points, and you will reach your goal
Suenan las campanas y quizás un gran ministro tú serás
The bells are ringing, and perhaps you will become a great minister
Un domingo en la mañana mientras Paco predicaba
One Sunday morning while Paco was preaching
De las cosas que en la iglesia se supone no se hablaran
About things that are not supposed to be talked about in the church
Quiso hacer mención de la palabra abiertamente
He wanted to mention the word openly
Y al instante se esfumó el gozo que habitaba entre la gente
And instantly, the joy among the people disappeared
Poco a poco fueron quedando sin el Mesías
Little by little, they were left without the Messiah
Y es obvio que el mensaje escuchar nadie quería
And obviously, no one wanted to hear the message
Y una voz en el silencio a Paco le decía
And a voice in the silence said to Paco
Es que muchas veces la verdad es como un baño de agua fría
That many times, the truth is like a cold shower
Decidido a cultivar las flores de su pueblo
Determined to cultivate the flowers of his town
En un monte de ladrillos frialdad y tiroteo
In a mountain of bricks, coldness, and shooting
Dejó atrás el pulpito y las cuatro paredes
He left behind the pulpit and the four walls
Regresó a la esquina Paco a cumplir con sus santos deberes
Paco returned to the corner to fulfill his holy duties
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOEL SOMEILLAN, OBIE BERMUDEZ, DOMINGO JR. QUINONES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind