Who Want To Plant The Corn?
It is WellKlear how far Fari DiFuture’s eyes see clearly. A world where tourism and “Big Pharma” Trump livity and the “little farmer” forwards a future filled with endless drama. The second-generation musician born Kemani Powell is using his artistic voice to write a history that will see this coming adversity transformed. The momentum of that great oak grows within the acorn of his “Farmer Man” song. More than a mere lip professor with livid lyrics, he lives it, as agriculture is an aspect of his art of life, not just an aspect of his artistic artifacts. With the recent release of the “Farmer Man” video, Fari DiFuture is positioned to propagate his pro-preservation mission in a Yaadcore, Cooreville Gardens fashion. Since its debut, the clip has garnered its gardener tens of thousands of views as watchers walk in farmers’ shoes. Video & Reasoning After The Jump…
BOOMSHOTS had a chance to catch up with the New York based performer to gain higher heights of inner sight into “Farmer Man” and its visuals.
Check just H.O.W.K.L.E.A.R. the reasoning was…
BOOMSHOTS: What inspired you to write “Farmer Man?”
FARI DIFUTURE: Honestly it wasn’t really an inspiration that was programmed. We were vibing as youths in the studio and the inspiration came to Ini still… But I believe that everyone comes to the fullness within HIM or her time. Sometimes we utter certain word sound and we don’t know how powerful the word sound is until we see… the people and how they relate to the sound, seen? So the inspiration came from Jah, seen? And then the word, sound power came after and then this was the outcome. So I couldn’t say that it was something that was planned or that I actually intended to write. The inspiration just came and it was something natural and mystical, seen?
What was the idea for the video?
I’m an artist who is based in NYC at the moment and as a youth on the outside looking in, I can see there is a whole heap of slackness and whole heap of things that the government of Jamaica is not really highlighting, seen? Agriculture is one of them. It’s one of the few things that really gets hidden helping Jamaica and putting Jamaica on a broad scale. Jamaica is known for the culture. There is no culture with agriculture, seen? So, with all the importations of Monsanto seeds and all the importations of things overseas, we find that the economy is lacking, yuh nuh see it?
So my duty was to just highlight all the negative that is basically bringing the country into turmoil. So that was the intention, seen? To highlight the negatives and bring forth the positives and show them that listen: the beauty is with inside the country. We don’t have to depend ‘pon no one overseas. If we treat our assets as ours then we can move mountains. Yuh nuh see it?
Why do people need to see this video?
Because they will have a better view of the country and more appreciation of what we have and more preserve it because there is a famous saying… Actually, I was watching a documentary (Rastafari As a Sustainable Lifestyle: Messages from Jamaica) and I stumbled upon this quote and me tell you say, the quote really struck me. It said: “We didn’t inherit the Earth from our grandparents, we actually borrowed it from our children.”
So, meaning say generations to come shall receive this and have a wider appreciation for what we have and if we give it all away, what shall they have in the future to come? So it’s just the fullness me ah try to show the youths and show the elders. Watch here: we need to do this. We need a next plan. We need to bring the country to a brighter scale so we can inspire other nations. So we build up our economy and we can inspire the world’s economy, seen?
We covered why people need to see the “Farmer Man” video, now who specifically needs to see it?
The government. The government of Jamaica, yuh nuh see it? We a talk (prime minister) Andrew Holness, the opposition leaders. We a talk Portia Simpson and all of them, seen? We a talk politicians, all of them, we can’t name them [all.] Them the ones we really just want to show what haffi go on because naturally them are the ones that a hold the angle. Them a lead the people, yuh nuh see it? So them the ones we really targeting this time.
How many videos does this make for you?
Individually, this is my second personal video. Collectively, I’ve done over five or six videos thus far. But individually, this is my second solo video. What makes this one special is that it has been done in my homeland, Jamaica; that this is my first video in the island of Jamaica. So, me give thanks for that, seen?
Where exactly was the video filmed?
Naturally, we went mainly to the countryside. We went into St. Elizabeth, and that is where my father hails from. So it is also paying homage to my roots. So we went into St. Elizabeth; a lot of places in St. Elizabeth because St. Elizabeth is a big parish. So we went there, a couple of other spots, pass through Santa Cruz, but we went mainly into the rural area to really capture the vision.
Who worked on the video with you?
The vision was both me and (his manager and Dubwise sound selector) Yaadcore. It was shot by Ashes Media and edited by Nkosi.
You say that this is your second solo and fifth or sixth video overall. What have you brought from the experience of the previous videos to this one?
In terms of the visual, the intention was to capture the actual word sound. My intention was to really give the viewers more view of Jamaica, seen? A lot of people view Third World countries as something that is impoverished; a whole heap of heartache and pain. So I wanted to highlight barely the richness, the luscious vegetation; the people…
Like me tell you say: “Them nuh rich like we.” The beauty is within the island of Jamaica, yuh nuh see it? That was my intention in this video. My videos in the past, I never really had that much leverage and thing. So this one is special because it captures all of what I was trying to say.
At the end of the video, it says “Save Cock Pit Country.” What is Cock Pit Country?
To my knowledge, Cock Pit Country is one of our indigenous areas that is in Jamaica. A lot of people do not know that country, yuh nuh see it…? You find that this area now is a land that is all indigenous. You find indigenous animals. You find most indigenous plants. You find all these things. So it’s something Jamaica needs to preserve. So right now there is a petition that is going on you see, because right now they want to set out and bring in some mining business so there is a petition going on to stop this from actually going forward.
Being an artist, I spread the awareness because that is my duty. It’s a thing now where people abroad can see what a go on and even them can play a part in signing the petition also. We don’t need no more people coming in the country and buy out everything in the country and then later on, we don’t have nothing, seen.
What do you want to see as the legacy of this video?
To shed light on the beauty and richness of Jamaica. That is it. That is all. Not even just Jamaica. The Third World in general.
What’s next for Fari DiFuture?
More music. More performance. More work. Same way. Me can’t stop work. A whole heap of upfullness… For people trying to get more in tune with Fari, them can link me at Fari_DiFuture. That is Instagram and also Facebook.
