Legendary Dancehall producer and talent scout King Jammy says his highly-anticipated museum, which will showcase his ‘musical life and times,’ is still on stream and will contain all of his equipment dating back to the 1960s when he made his foray into music production.
“Of course I am building a museum. Becaw mi have all a mi old equipment dem from day one come right up. I neva throw weh nuttn,” he said gleefully during an interview on Radio Jamaica’s Two Live Crew programme on Thursday.
“The building not complete as yet. Most of the things that we gonna do, we gonna put in the museum, because all mi trophies – mi have ove a hundred and odd plaques and honours an all dem kinda ting deh. Mi have a whole heap a tings…,” the Sleng Teng producer told hosts Christopher “Johnny” Daley and Dahlia Harris.
King Jammy had shed light on his museum publicly for the first time in June 2019. At the time, he told The Gleaner newspaper that the intention was to have the museum, which will be located in Waterhouse, completed by the end of the year.
“It has been in construction for about three years now and will soon be completed. It’s gonna be a big museum on the second floor of the building. We’re dedicating the whole second floor to the museum, and it’s gonna have all of my accolades there as well as all of the instruments that we used in the past like my first mixing board, the ‘sleng teng’ machine, my first tape recorder, a lot of trophies, and all dem ting deh,” he had told the publication back then.
The Gleaner had also noted that the King Jammy’s Waterhouse premises is home to the producer’s first studio, which is situated on the ground floor, where he recorded songs for Reggae icons such as Dennis Brown, while the second floor houses his second, more contemporary studio, adjacent to the area earmarked for the museum’s development.
Set to be open to the public, the new attraction is expected to feature a small theatre that will screen films and documentaries that delve into King Jammy’s profound connection with music and his most celebrated productions.
The producer had also said that the museum would generate employment opportunities for the Waterhouse community. Additionally, he said that music lovers from Germany, The Netherlands and other parts of the globe had been flocking to the location, and had expressed keen interest in witnessing the building’s transformation, despite its ongoing construction.