by Howard Campbell
SOUTH FLORIDA – When actor TV Boss got a call from director Jay Will to appear in the music video for Til A Mawnin, the latest song by Sting and Shaggy, he accepted the offer instantly. It is the Jamaican’s 30th music video credit and his favorite.
The video was filmed in New York City.
TV Boss said he enjoyed working with the Grammy winners and Jay Will, the leading music video director in dancehall-reggae.
“It was a cool vibe, everything was professionally done as you would expect. It was great working with Jay Will and being in the presence of two icons,” he told South Florida Caribbean News.
Since making his debut in Jahmiel’s True Colors video 10 years ago, TV Boss has been recruited by other top artists such as Busy Signal and Stephen Marley to play mainly comedic roles in their visuals.
He credits appearances in Busy Signal’s Stay So and Rock Stone by Marley, Capleton and Sizzla, for exposing him to broader audiences. Those performances caught the eyes of Jay Will, who was born in Jamaica and raised in Fort Lauderdale.
TV Boss is from Portland parish in eastern Jamaica. He graduated from the Edna Manley School of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston. He began acting in high school. His big break came in The Ity And Fancy Cat Show, a popular TV show in Jamaica.
He spoke about the reggae video’s growth over the years and his role in its evolution.
First time, you just had the artist and a girl, nothing else. With people like me you get a short story and some humor with substance,” he noted.
Til A Mawnin is Jay Will’s latest project with Shaggy. Previously, they worked on the video for Church Heathen, the deejay’s 2009 hit, and the charity-based Save A Life by Shaggy and Friends.
Jay Will, a graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, has also directed videos by Sean Paul, Beenie Man, TOK, Etana and Alison Hinds.
For TV Boss, Til A Mawnin is a game-changer.
“No doubt, it’s a big deal for me. I expect it to open even more doors for me,” he said.
