Gage adds voice to Bolt-SSL saga
GAGE Almighty is the latest dancehall artiste to weigh in on the mushrooming scandal surrounding Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL), with a hard-hitting song called SSL, released on the weekend. Visuals for the song have reeled in over 163,000 views in one day.
“The response has been wicked so far. People are really responding to the song, with almost 2,000 comments in less than a day. It was really Corey Todd’s idea; he brought the topic to me. I am the songwriter, and I put the thoughts together and recorded it,” said Gage.
The video also jumped to #20 on Music Trending on YouTube.
The song makes reference to Usain Bolt, who is one of 30 investors bilked in the multi-billion-dollar fraud. Bolt, through his attorneys, has threatened legal action since it was revealed that at the end of October last year his account with the firm contained US $12.7 million but the account has now dwindled to approximately US$12,000.
“It’s an unfair game because when the little man does it the society shines a spotlight, a floodlight on it, and call it scamming but when the bigger heads do it there is no spotlight — the powers that be sweep it under the carpet. So, it left to we to shine the spotlight on things like these because all now no one knows what happened to Cash Plus money,” Gage told the Jamaica Observer.
More than 40,000 investors are still owed some $10 billion dollars in the Cash Plus debacle. Former Cash Plus boss Carlos Hill was arrested and charged in April 2008 after the Cash Plus investment club scheme collapsed. He was charged with fraudulently and attempting to fraudulently induce persons to invest in the unregulated investment scheme which promised investors significant returns on their deposit over a short period.
After a nine-year delay the trial finally got underway with the selection of a seven-member jury in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston, but in less than an hour it was over and Hill walked out a free man.
“This is a serious financial crime being committed by the ‘choppa’ with degrees,” he said.
Born Ryan Douglas, Gage grew up on Bucks Avenue where he attended Denbigh Primary and Denbigh High School in Clarendon.
He got his break on the music scene and has since released a number of songs including Life, Tun Up, and Woie Woie.
He recently inked a recording deal with US-based label Vizionaire Music, headed by Corey Todd.
