Words by Matei Korley and Jesse Serwer
Clifton Brown has the most talked about tune in Jamaica right now but we doubt his name rings too many bells. You see, Brown isn’t actually an artist but a rural worker tapped by a TV reporter to explain the situation after floods swept away a bridge crossing the Yallahs River in St. Thomas. Brown’s speaky-spokey twang caught the attention of Kevin-Sean Hamilton, A/K/A DJ Powa, a college student who is quickly becoming Jamaica’s answer to the Gregory Brothers, the pranksters behind Antoine Dobson’s “Bed Intruder.” (Watch “Patty Shop,” his “refix” of a recent TV interview with former Vybz Kartel business partner Corey Todd.)
If you’re Jamaican or just happen to know a few Jamaicans, chances are “Nobody Canna Cross It (Di Bus Can Swim)” overflowed into your inbox this weekend like it did ours. Its infamy hasn’t quite reached “Bed Intruder” levels yet, but the viral clip has already racked up 180,000 views since landing on Youtube last Wednesday, and it’s even caught the attention of CBS News in the US. And, like “Bedroom Intruder” it’s not just funny but a damn catchy tune in its own right. It even has its own ready-made dance. Just scroll to 2:03 to see what we mean, then start moving your feet: Three shuffle to the left, three shuffle to the right–make sure yuh woman pon yuh back! Hell, Brown’s words can even be taken as a universal message applicable to almost anything: Nobody canna cross it—it’s only who can understand it.