by Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Jamaica – As a 30-year veteran, Egg Nog is not afraid to pitch his dancehall credentials. Twenty years ago, the Jamaican singer was among the artists who shot to prominence with the monster Diwali ‘riddim’.
Party Time, his contribution to producer Steven “Lenky” Marsden’s hit-laden beat, rocked dance halls from Kingston to New York and London. It is a collaboration with deejay Danny English.
Egg Nog is looking for more success with Fool’s Heart, a song produced by Win Win Production. It is partially aimed at detractors who have written him off.
“A lotta people don’t really know what it takes to get a hit in Jamaica. Once di song shot inna (in) Jamaica, it tek (takes) off ‘round di world,” he said.
Released in December, Fool’s Heart capped a relatively busy 2022 for Egg Nog, whose first song was recorded in 1989. He released five singles including Feel so Good and Headbanger.
Though he enjoyed some traction with follow-up singles like Ti Amor and Throw Your Hands Up (with Danny English), they were nowhere near the success of Party Time, a smash hit in 2002.
Party Time rode the Diwali wave of success which was triggered by Sean Paul’s Get Busy, Sufferer by Bounty Killer and No Letting Go by Wayne Wonder. Those songs made Marsden’s exotic jam an international sensation.
Egg Nog dismisses talk of him being a one-hit wonder, saying his chances of scoring another massive song does not rest with naysayers.
“Is jus’ di powers of di Most High carry wi, ‘cause without him there is nothing,” he said.
