In this installment of Our Stories, Dancehall artiste, Mix Pac talks about how his grandmother influenced his music career….For many people, Jamaica is pictured as an island paradise – white sandy beaches, a beautiful and vivacious culture, rich and wholesome food, and attractive people. And while that image is not far from the truth, if the lens is focused on the inspirational stories of ordinary Jamaicans, you’d find a sharper, richer and truer image of the Jamaican experience…this is Our Stories!

 Meet Antonyo “Mix Pac” Nicely

Although his biological parents were present in his upbringing, Antonyo said he shared a closer bond with his grandmother, Hazel Satchwell. He describes her as a woman of passion and strength! The DanceHall artiste said his grandmother was an instrumental figure in his development as she constantly reminded him to work diligently to achieve a better life than what she could offer him.

Today, Mix Pac proudly shares that his music career is a fulfillment of his grandmother’s wishes.

1. Why do you believe your music career is a fulfillment of her wishes?
She would always tell me to get a work and finance yuh ting because nobody going to help you. So it was like, mi affi buss fi mek Mama alright. It end up that she passed out and when she passed out, I got a job.
From there so, it coming like the job not so relevant. When I look at the money on Fridays I’d say,
‘Jah know mi would buy something for Mama enuh’
The heart willing but she’s not there.

2. How did she die?
She died two years ago…she actually died in my arms, looking in my eyes. She was sick for a long time. She had multiple strokes and she had a bad sugar (Diabetes) problem.

3. I’m sorry to learn about her death but let’s talk about her life. Tell me one thing about your grandmother you will never forget.
She have a cuss word she always used. She would say, ‘Come here boy mek mi lick yuh unda yuh damn r***’.(Laughs) all her grandchildren know that saying.
A part from that, she has a wonderful smile!

4. You call her ‘Mama’, why were you so close to your grandmother?
She was like a mother to me. When my mother wasn’t there, she was there. When my father was out, she was there….I took the time out to write a song for her, ‘Mama Bawl’ (as a tribute) for all the good treatment and love she showed to us over the years.

5. Long live Mama Hazel! Now let’s talk about your music, who is Mix Pac?
I’m jovial at times because you know everybody have another side to them. But if you see me on Facebook or in person and you say, ‘Mix Pac or Changes,’ mi will answer yuh. I’m a good person, not a stuck-up person.

6. What’s your genre?
Conscious Dancehall music cause as mi tell yuh a changes.

7. What do you hope to achieve in your music career within the next five years?
…really, what the Lord would like me to achieve. We nuh really know wa deh ahead of us, we can just think of it. In the next five years, if mi nice as how mi seh mi nice in one of mi songs dem, it will be good.

Thanks for sharing your story Mix Pac!

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Our Stories is a feature which shares the other side of Jamaican entertainers: their innermost thoughts, inspirations and personal stories. Are you a Jamaican entertainer with a story to share? Contact us [email protected]