EIGHTEEN years ago was the last time American actor and comedian Cedric The Entertainer landed on Jamaican soil. Nonetheless, he keeps abreast with the island’s happenings — the most recent being the Broadcasting Commission’s ban music glorifying violence and use of illicit drugs.

He plans to address the matter during his set at Saturday’s Outburst Standup Comedy Series, slated for the National Arena in St Andrew.

“This weekend’s show was really me kinda listening to music. I like to listen to the songs; I’ve been trying to figure out, like, what’s going on with the culture and some of the rules with some of the songs. [Some songs] have been banned. I plan on talking about stuff like that. I’ve been watching the videos with all the young kids dancing extra crazy,” he told the Jamaica Observer during an interview at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew.

“By showtime, I’ll do a little bit more research just to find out, but I did kinda find out that those things happened recently and I found it interesting… there’s just this certain kinda music where it’s just bad behaviour, bad language that’s no longer permitted. I thought that was really smart cultural-wise. It’s a thing that I hope catches on all around the world to take us back to a time where you don’t expect to have that kinda negativity put into your life in a subconscious way. It’s just in your mind ’cause somebody is singing it to you over and over again,” he continued.

Cedric The Entertainer will be joined by Majah Hype, Rita B, and Christopher “Johnny” Daley at Saturday’s gig.

The Missouri-born comic got his start hosting BET’s Comic View during the 1993-1994 season, and DefComedy Jam in 1995. He is best known for co-starring with Steve Harvey on the sitcom, The Steve Harvey Show, as one of The Original Kings of Comedy, and for starring as Eddie Walker in Barbershop.

Cedric and Harvey are actual friends in real life. He explained that his stint on The Steve Harvey Show, which ran 2012-2017, as well as his role on the Original Kings Of Comedy, set the tone for his career.

“Steve Harvey has always been a brother, and a big brother to me. He’s one of those people that, even when I first started my career, he’s somebody that gave me my first break as a stand-up [comedian]. Then we became good friends and we ended up doing The Steve Harvey Show together. The Steve Harvey Show was my first TV show where to this day so many people know us as these two guys. The Original Kings of Comedy was that more international movie that took us into the world. Like, people understood who everybody was,” he said, hailing Richard Pryor, Robin Harris and Eddie Murphy as his comedic role models.

Like Jamaica, America has its fair share of societal topics that often find their way into the sets of comedians. Cedric The Entertainer noted that the comic scene among African-Americans is in an excellent place, and some comedians do not hesitate to add their voices to controversial topics.

“The comedy scene is strong right now. I mean, we have a great rising in comedians. Nobody can look at the heights of which Kevin Hart has risen, Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock — these guys are, like, at the top of the food chain right now. There’s a renaissance of young comedians. Comedy is really in a good place in the United States. When it comes to speaking out against real issues, you have great voices [that add] to that… The US got so politicised in the last few years with the ex-presidents and all that stuff and people don’t really wanna hear none of that. They’re like, ‘let me just come and laugh’,” he said.

In the meantime, the comedian says his career is at an all-time high, and he has zero complaints.

“I’ve had a wonderful career. I really feel blessed. Of course, you always want more — that’s the natural desire of anybody that does this… I’ve had a career that’s better than most for over 30 years… I can’t complain at all,” he said.