`When I walk through my village everybody always sees me with my guitar strapped to my back, and they’ve started calling me `Desperado’ like in the movie…’
DESPERADO: Ossie Nedd with his `girlfriend and trophies. (Picture by Quacy Sampson)
HIS teachers motivated him as a teenager, and now he breaks out in melodic song himself a teacher with a dream of reaching national and international stardom.
While his songs centre on themes of God, humanity and romance, the Guyana public will soon witness Ossie Oth’Neil Nedd in a different mood, as he enters into the Soca arena, with the hope of copping the winners’ prize in the 2004 Soca Road March and `Mash 004’ Calypso Competition.
The 24-year-old, who hails from Anns Grove on the East Coast, will early next year release his Soca singles – Colour of Yuh Flag, a patriotic single and Tekin On, each recorded at Kross Kolor Studio.
Nedd will enter the competitions under the name `Desperado’.
“When I walk through my village everybody always sees me with my guitar strapped to my back, and they’ve started calling me `Desperado’ like in the movie…”
Nedd said he’s able to compile his lyrics on average less than five minutes amid a burst of emotion.
Nedd is a graduate of the University of Guyana and holds a degree in Agriculture Science. He’s a teacher at the St. Joseph High School and is simultaneously pursuing a post-graduate diploma in Education at the university.
He is the younger of two children born to Mrs. Genevieve Whyte Nedd, the acting Chief Education Officer at the Ministry of Education, and Mr. Aubrey Nedd.
Questioned on the genesis of his singing career, Nedd offered: “I strongly believe you begin singing from the moment you are born.” Nedd claims to have taught himself to play his guitar in three days – stating it was instinctive.
In an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, he said recognition as a singer in Guyana came his way as early as age 11 when his music teacher at St. Roses High School challenged him to sing, `The Greatest Love of All’ during a school concert.
“That was my first experience in front of a crowd of people,” Nedd remembered.
Since age 12, he has been `voice-trained’ by an older sister, Nichole Nedd, a trainee doctor who recently graduated from UG.
Nedd, who possesses a smooth, enthralling voice, has been nurturing his gift of singing since his youth, but he remarked that he was encouraged to vigorously pursue singing because of the vote of confidence he received as a teen from his former teachers.
“I believe it is people who make you believe in yourself. It (involves) self-esteem and one’s self-concept – it’s not just about what you think about yourself but what you think others think about you,” Nedd said.
“On average, everyday, at least three people tell me, `I love your voice.’”
As a teen, Nedd idolised Michael Jackson and said he often times imitated the singer.
A 14-year-old transfer student at Queens College, he penned his first original song, `Hooked On Your Love’ in the mid-1990s and performed at `House Feed.’
It was a romantic composition dedicated to his first girlfriend.
Back then, his head teacher at QC was very impressed with his voice and publicly praised him during a school assembly.
“The fact that she appreciated my music and singing really gave me a psychological boost. As a teacher I now understand that we shouldn’t only concentrate on the bad aspect of a child’s behaviour but we need to encourage (him/her) in the good aspect to have equilibrium,” Nedd stated.
With his “girlfriend”, the name he dubs his guitar, perched beside him on an armchair, and several trophies he tucked away in a `travelling’ bag to show as proof of his accomplishments, Nedd confidently confessed to having penned more than 790 original songs.
Of this number, he has reportedly sung at least 25 per cent of them. Only four of his songs have been recorded locally. `Hooked On Your Love’ and `All I Have To Share’ were released as singles and put on CD. However, these CDs are no longer on the local market. Nedd has recorded and released videos of both of his originals, which are often featured on Channel 9 and GTV Channel 11.
The song, `Hooked On Your Love’ has been regularly featured on radio.
While singing is his passion, Nedd also concentrated on his schoolwork and graduated from QC with eight Caribbean Examinations Council passes. He entered UG at age 18.
Just prior to enrolling at UG, Nedd was invited to sing at the second beauty pageant of UG’s Student Society (UGSS).
“The reception was really great and I was asked to sing at beauty pageants (there) every year. I serenaded my share of queens,” Nedd said laughing.
His list includes Asha Pieters, Olive Gopaul and the reigning Miss Universe 2003, Dominican, Amelia Vega.
During her recent visit to Guyana, Nedd said he sang a medley of songs for her.
Nedd said he was delighted last year when a five-year-old approached him for an autograph, after performing at the Miss Guyana Talented Teen at the National Cultural Centre.
“It was the first time that happened to me. I thought it was a joke, initially, because most times when people ask you that in Guyana they’re joking, but the little boy was so serious and told me that I must ensure I write my name properly because, as he told me, `celebrities have a terrible handwriting.’
“I was just amazed,” he said.
Nedd said he started getting the same response from mostly school-aged children.
While he chiefly performs at various pageants in Guyana, Nedd said he is in the process of widening his reach by entering Soca competitions.
To date, Nedd has been awarded a plaque in recognition of his sterling performances at UG during its ceremonial openings for the period 1998-2002; the 2001 Theatre Arts award for `Best Male Singer’; first-prize trophy in the 2001 R&B Flava song contest sponsored by Western Union for his composition, `Hooked On Your Love’; second-prize trophy in the 2003 ACDA Emancipation reggae competition, and second-prize trophy in the 2003 `Songs from A Wedding Night’ competition sponsored by Anansi.
Nedd said he wishes to remain in his homeland and earn recognition and support for his music instead of simply opting for the United States to earn international stardom.
“I love Guyana and the countryside where I live. I don’t want to live anywhere else,” he said, “This is how it is supposed to be. You’re supposed to love your country.”
Nedd said one of his dreams will be to stage a concert next year at the National Cultural Centre.
Encouraged as a youth to focus on his education as a key to escape poverty, Nedd now wishes to impart to youths of Guyana the same advice, while appealing for their support of his creations at the upcoming Soca competitions.