BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – YOU might see him on the stage but many still do not know our leading rap sensation, Kwame ‘Dagah’ Samuel. Not to be confused with the superstar appeal, Samuel is a quiet, humble man who has put a lot of work into his craft and only wants to reap his rewards. From losing his mother at a young age to speaking about his most sexually embarrassing moment, Samuel gives SKNVibes an insight into what makes him tick in this week’s edition of Juicy with Suelika.
JWS: What is that one item you can’t do without?
KS: Money, definitely can’t do without it.
JWS: You came off a bit cocky, or overly confident, is that because of being a rapper or is that just your personality?
KS: Because I’m an entertainer. I’m a rapper, you know, as a person I’m very, very quiet.
JWS: Quiet?
KS: Uhuh. Whoever knows me will tell you that, as an entertainer, I want to give people the opposite. I want to be all out…I want to be the person I wouldn’t normally be on a regular.
JWS: It is surprising to hear you said that you are quiet. So what is the other side of Dagah that we do not know?
KS: Like when I’m being daddy when I’m with my kids; just being that special person to someone.
JWS: So you are a dad? How many kids do you have?
KS: I have two. One is seven. Her name is Kitana, and the other is four…her name is Rokwania.
JWS: What makes you so confident?
KS: The struggle that I’ve had in life. Just to go through the struggle makes me want to be the opposite of that coward person that don’t want to be seen. When you struggle hard you want to be able to stand out in the end. You don’t want to struggle all your life and nobody ever get to know you. You just fade away and that’s it. I want to be the struggle that has made it and is confident, so just the struggle alone makes me confident.
JWS: What local artiste would you like to collaborate with?
KS: I’ve collaborated with Marquice. He was one of the persons I wanted to collaborate with. I’ve collaborated with Masud, Crucial and right now I’m really feeling C-Money. I think he is a really great artiste, definitely.
JWS: How would a woman get your attention? And what kind of women are you attracted to?
KS: I would say strong, independent, sexy women…a sexy woman will definitely get my attention.
JWS: What do you consider sexy?
KS: Sometimes a woman may not be the most beautiful woman in the world but her swag, her confidence in herself, how she carries herself, her sex appeal would catch me. She might not be the most beautiful woman facially, but just her sex appeal makes you say she’s sexy.
JWS: On that note, are you involved with anyone?
KS: Mmmmm… yes.
JWS: That was a long mmmmm.
KS: I hope she doesn’t read that. (Laughs)
JWS: How has the relationship been going?
KS: Well, I’ve been involved for about two years. It has had its ups and downs, being an entertainer it’s kinda hard. You get a lot of your woman not trusting you, you get a lot of that because you’re out there, you’re onstage, people go for a lot of that. You get a lot of the girl not trusting you and she doesn’t believe when you say that you’re going somewhere. I get a lot of that.
JWS: You said the relationship had its ups and downs, what made it work?
KS: The sex, and just the mutual understanding. She knows that I’m an entertainer. I’m gonna be out there a lot and she admires that kind of person as well; people who are out in the public and not afraid to show themselves. She understands me.
JWS: And is that key for you?
KS: Yes, that’s key, because if a woman can understand me. I mean my life is crazy, I’m always doing something, maybe travelling, away for one or two months, and I’m always going to foreign for a couple months and coming back. So for somebody to understand that and wanna keep a relationship, I definitely have to give her that so she understands.
JWS: And you trust her as well?
KS: Yes. For real I trust her. We speak every night, as soon as I done what I’m doing. She calls me when I’m away, she calls me a lot, it’s almost like I’m home. We keep contact when I’m off island so there’s definitely that trust. For me though, I trust her but she don’t trust me.
JWS: At what stage is your career?
KS: I’m working on a lot of stuff…I’m working on videos. I have an album coming and that’s going to be a real big thing for me. I worked hard on it, travelled a lot, spend a lot of money, so I got that coming.
JWS: When will that album be released?
KS: I don’t have a date yet cuz the thing about albums is that they always get pushed back, and that’s because you’re not the only person working on it. Your part may be done months ago, but there’s still people doing the mixing, features. So I don’t wanna give a date and it don’t come out that date. So there’s no date set yet, but definitely pushing the singles, working on videos, shows and more travelling.
JWS: Did you get yourself into any kind of trouble when you were younger?
KS: I use to get in trouble for going into the sea. I use to like going to the Bay; that was my thing. When I come home I would be washing off my skin quick so my mother don’t know and she would be watching me and saying, ‘Your eyes red, you went in the sea.’ That’s the only trouble I use to get into. I was never like a bad boy. I use to skip school a few times following people, but I never was a bad boy.
JWS: Tell me about your father?
KS: He’s is like a Rastafarian. We are cool. We’re like friends…brothers. Coming up, he brought me up like a man for me to understand certain things. A lot of people told me a lot of things about him and what he went through, why he couldn’t do certain things for me, but he’s a cool guy, he just chills at home cooking and eating.
JWS: I remember you saying in a past interview that your mom had passed away?
KS: I lost my mom in 1992 from cancer, and that’s something that kills a lot of women too. That’s the number one women killer. People worry about AIDS but cancer is a serious thing. I lost my mom and it’s something that had a big effect on me. When you lose your mom (at young age) everything changes. You might have to live a different place, you might be different, you might not get that kind of love that you use to get. I guess you should understand, you lost your mom too, right?
JWS: Yes, I did, and to cancer as well.
KS: That’s a big thing for me. Up to now it still moves me. Actually, I have a song on the album called ‘Til We Meet that Day’, dedicated to my mom. That’s the first song I wrote about it. I’ve never really written a song about it, but since I’m getting to be known I decided that I’d let people know about that too, that side of me. It’s a very deep song.
JWS: Was it hard for you to write it?
KS: Yeah, I cried when I wrote it and every time I listened to it tear drops came out of my eyes. I would definitely push it. I know people will definitely like a song like that because it’s real. Real things always stand out. When something is real it stands out; fake things fade away.
JWS: Yeah that is true. What is your most embarrassing moment in a relationship?
KS: My most embarrassing moment in a relationship was one time the electricity gone and my girlfriend and I were chilling in the bed. And we started doing sexual things because there were no electricity, then the electricity came back on and my sister ran in the room shouting, ‘Ey current come back’. She came in and caught me red handed. That was embarrassing! I was but naked.
JWS: (Laughs) Wow, that must have really been embarrassing! So what makes you feel sexy?
KS: Umm, my woman. She makes me feel that way. She feels like if I step in the room and girls are in there we would start having sex, and I wonder how would that happen am I the most sexiest man, irresistible to women? So she makes me feel like I’m real sexy.
JWS: Well I guess you’re not aware of your sex appeal, because I’ve heard women remark and say they find you very sexy.
KS: Wow. I do get a reaction from the females. They do act like I’m hot, but I mean as cocky as I am in my music, I’m kinda cool. I’m kinda laid back. I don’t like to get too swell headed. When it comes to the music I’m just outrageous, crazy, but as a person I like to be humble… you know, just chill. I’m not sexy today I’m just chilling.
JWS: I hear that. What was the name of your first crush and was she aware?
KS: Yeah. The name of my first crush was Samantha. We were going to primary school in Grade six. I attended the Boys School and the boys would usually go over by the Girls School and the guys use to tell me one of these days they are going to take me over and hook me up on a girl. So I went over there and I was leaning on a fence and I saw her. She came out and looked at me and I looked at her and I got the kudies. And I was like, ‘Wow! That’s my girlfriend’. So I started telling people that she’s my girlfriend, and I never even kiss the girl, never even talk to her. There was this girl who was older than I was and she use to come down to the school. One day she was like, ‘Come here, you like that girl?’ and then she asked her if she liked me and the girl said yeah. That was it, nothing happened. But we did meet again in high school and she was my girlfriend. She actually took my virginity (laughs). I lost my virginity with her.
JWS: How old were you then?
KS: I was about 15. I wasn’t a bad kid so I didn’t lose my virginity at 9. I wasn’t thinking about that then, I was thinking about playing Nintendo.
JWS: What do you find the least attractive about women?
KS: I don’t like negativity…negative women who just negative about everything. I hate the grumpy negative woman; that just turns me off. Negativity in women definitely turns me off.
JWS: Do you plan on getting married?
KS: I see it as the right thing to do. But right now when I’m getting my feet wet in the business and stepping up, it’s kinda hard to decide if I’m gonna get married. But it’s at the back of my mind. I just have to brush off the cobwebs and start thinking about it again.
