Sadeke Brooks, Gleaner Writer

Buchanan .. his popularity has increased, JAI still finds time to chill with his old friends and "run a boat". - File

Too often, many Jamaican youth have to grow up without a father. JAI was such a child, but he was lucky to have a mother that he could rely on.

"Mimi and I are best buddies. She is a big part of who I am today, where I get my inspiration," says JAI whose given name is Wayne Buchanan.

Being in a single parent household with a mother who had little financial resources to offer, he was unable to enjoy the small things that people take for granted. He had to forego extra-curricular activities and school concerts because his mother just could not afford it.

Despite this, Wayne remained hopeful and believed that the tables would eventually turn in his favour so that one day he would be able to afford a new pair of jeans or shoes.

The tables started turning when he became the lead singer for the group 'Total Praise' in 1997. He later joined the band C-Sharp and then the Katalys Crew. However, it was the release of his single Can't Take My Lord on Johnnie Clarke's label Marjohn Muzik that led to the major increase in his fan base in Jamaica and other parts of the world in which he has performed.

Relationship

He has been a solo artiste since 2006 and that makes the name JAI appropriate for him since it means 'Jesus and I'. He says the name derives from the relationship he has developed with Jesus and where he is in life.

"He is my best friend, not just the supernatural being that most people perceive Him to be, to the most high," says JAI.

This little youth who used to sing dub plates on local sound system 'Triple Star' in August Town and at concerts while attending St. Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) has performed across Jamaica, as well as in Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad, Anguilla and Canada. He is now signed to Caribbean Gospel Ministries through which he has released his debut album Best Friends.

In order to promote the album, he will do a British Virgin Islands tour in January and a 10-week summer tour of Europe. As part of the European tour, JAI, along with a team called Second Chance, will find a single parent family and sponsor a child from that family for a year.

"The entire album is based on sharing love and has a wide appeal overseas because of the diversity of it. Love conquers all," JAI says.

The songs on the album were all written by JAI, with the exception of a cover of Kirk Franklyn's Spend My Always. However, JAI has managed to maintain his Jamaican culture throughout.

Although his popularity has increased, JAI still finds time to chill with his old friends and "run a boat" with his newly discovered brother and niece, as well as "pang-pang on the guitar and try to create something, and listen to different genres of music, which helps me to create music that is outside the box".

Although JAI met his father and brother only in April this year, he believes that family life is very important. His relationship with his father is still in the developing stages because his father resides overseas. However, JAI expects it to get better.

And that will not deter him from having a healthy family of his own with "one wife and many kids".