Selector, Run Office: Bass Odyssey’s Keith Walford Elected MP

Words by Jesse Serwer

A B-movie actor ran the most powerful country in the world for eight critical years and a provocative singer who once wore women’s clothing on stage is currently in power in Haiti. But, until now, we’ve never heard of a DJ being elected to office before. In last month’s general election, Keith Walford, the man behind Jamaica’s long-running Bass Odyssey Sound System, won the St Ann South West Parliament seat for the People’s National Party.

Notably, in one of his first interviews after winning the seat, Walford, who founded Bass Odyssey in 1989 (though better known as the businessman behind the sound, Walford fulfilled the selector role early on before bringing on a team including the late Squingy and Charly Black), said that, as an MP, he plans to go to bat for his fellow sound men. “I think that more things can be done to facilitate the playing of sound systems,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “It’s a part of our culture. First thing to look at are creative zones that they can play in freely.” Read more here.