Davitt’s long wait
At 51 years old, singer Davitt is confident that his 25-year-old project will fit in the reggae revival space.
Also known as Psalmist and King David, Davitt recently performed at Spoken Word and Nyabinghi Drum for African Liberation held at Kingston Dub Club in St Andrew.
He has been performing passages from Psalms from the 1990s and is now working on his debut album, Take Me As I Am,for release this year.
According to Davitt, the 10-track set is 25 years overdue.
“I wanted to do an album of Psalms 25 years ago but I got no real assistance with regards to funding,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “As time went by, I kept changing teams and so I was always starting over. After all this time, I’m back again and finally doing this album. I want people to get some kind of spiritual connection, faith and courage by listening to it.”
The album is being produced by the artiste, and will feature 40 Psalms.
Born Dave Johnson, Davitt noted his long-standing passion with pursuing music. The Spanish Town native migrated to the US in 1986, where he began his music career four years later. He realised his ability to recite multiple Psalms easily and decided to fuse it in his music. His first major break came in 1994, after scoring a collaboration with Ken Boothe, in a track titled Weep. After several trips to his homeland, Davitt decided to return to Jamaica in 2000.
“It was fitting for me to come back to my roots. I found myself dancing abroad before dancing a yaad, and I had to return as Jamaica is the roots to my music,” he said.
Since then, Davitt said he has had highs and lows in holding a strong presence on the market. Despite this, he believes there is a space for his music today.
“There is definitely space for me. When I go to schools to perform all I have to do is ask the kids if they know Psalm 131 and they say yes and start singing it.”
— Sade Gardner