Earlier at the moment, I obtained a message from Gramps Morgan, proudly asserting a brand new undertaking aimed on the youth — a youngsters’s audiobook titled The Gingerbread Mon, in collaboration with the TropiKids household. Naturally loving books, I reached out to Gramps to listen to extra about this seemingly surprising transfer into the world of storytelling for youths.
“I began to construct an entire new viewers with my album Optimistic Vibration, and that’s actually the place this journey started,” Gramps shared with World A Reggae. “Reggae has all the time had the facility to go far — the elders confirmed us that — and now I’m persevering with that mission in my very own approach.”
The concept got here to life whereas Gramps was acting on the Gulf Shores of Alabama — not your typical reggae cease. It’s a area that largely hosts nation artists as Gramps defined, but it surely’s additionally dwelling to the
Parrot Head group: the loyal fan base of the late Jimmy Buffett. After his present, Gramps linked with Kristin McFadden, a author working intently with the Radio Margaritaville household, and what adopted was a pure collaboration below the TropiKids umbrella.
“The entire Trop Rock scene is nearly like a cousin of reggae,” Gramps defined. “It’s their very own interpretation of the island sound, and it simply felt like a pure connection. When Kristin approached me with this e-book, I used to be all in.”
The Gingerbread Mon marks the primary of what Gramps hopes might be a sequence of initiatives introducing youngsters throughout the globe to Caribbean tradition by means of literature and music. For him, this isn’t only a facet undertaking — it’s a imaginative and prescient he’s carried for years.
“Doing a youngsters’s e-book has all the time been a dream of mine — even from once I began in music as a part of Morgan Heritage,” he stated. “Music is such an intricate a part of society, and I imagine it might assist youngsters not simply be taught, however fall in love with studying. Particularly those that’ve by no means heard a Jamaican accent, or don’t know something about our tradition.”
The method of recording the audiobook introduced a brand new type of pleasure. “It was unbelievable,” he stated. “I’ve all the time admired voice actors who convey animated characters to life. This was my likelihood to do this — to convey the Gingerbread Mon to life with Jamaican taste. I’d like to do extra voiceover work sooner or later… Disney, Pixar, Nickelodeon — who is aware of?”
Gramps’ followers, whom he affectionately calls Islanders, at the moment are joined by a rising viewers of Parrot Heads — the group of Jimmy Buffett lovers who welcomed him into their world.
“For those who don’t know who the Parrot Heads are,” Gramps defined, “consider them just like the ‘Beyhive’ for Jimmy Buffett. They’ve embraced me and my music. These are individuals who love the islands, love the Caribbean life-style, and so they’ve been instrumental in supporting this undertaking.”
With help from Radio Margaritaville, Halo Leisure, and Dada Son, the undertaking is greater than only a e-book — it’s a bridge between cultures, generations, and communities.
“I implore all Caribbean lovers and island lovers world wide — go and get The Gingerbread Mon e-book. For those who love reggae, in case you love your children, that is one thing particular.”
The e-book, written by Kristin McFadden, Illustrated by Donny Brewer, and skim by Gramps Morgan, is now out there on iTunes Books and Audible, with a bodily copy out there by means of Tropi-Youngsters.com, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
However Gramps isn’t stopping there.
“I’m trying ahead to visiting faculties in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean to learn this e-book in individual. That is only the start…”
By Danny Creatah
