Q: I can see that classic record design is a big reference point for you, were your parents record collectors?
A: Everybody’s parents were, everybody had records then. My dad had a pretty extensive record collection, him and my mom kinda fought over it after they got divorced. It was like another kid or something, cause they both want custody of like, old Yellowman records. You know my dad’s still pissed about that, he’ll be like: “Try and get some of the records when you go to your Mom’s…” I’m like, Forget the records man…let it go! Go buy a new one on eBay.
Q: You know I’m a DJ, I got to know which ones he’s really upset about…
A: I’ll get a list.
Q: Was it mostly Jamaican stuff?
A: No. No, the thing about Jamaicans from that era was they listened to a lot of soul music so my dad was a big Drifters fan, there was a lot of that in the house. There was everything, man; country music, old soul, Yellowman, Dennis Brown, Sugar Hill Gang. I spent a lot of days just looking at that stuff, not even listening to it, just looking at it, the pictures.
Q: Are both your parents Jamaican? A: Yes, I grew up in Chicago but they’re both from Kingston. Q: did they meet here or in JA?
A: No, they knew each other from when they were kids, they moved in the late 60s but my Dad’s back in Jamaica now.
Q: Did you go back when you were growing up? A: Yeah, yeah. We used to go once a year, my grandmother was still down there, my uncle, my grandfather was down there. He was actually, I don’t know if you know this—he was Prime Minister. Q: I did not know that. A: Yeah, Hugh Shearer. We’d go down there for a few weeks, eat some fish, eat some mangos, see all the beautifulness and then head on back…
To be continued…in the meantime, check out more of Darhil’s work here.