Black Fyah rising above painful mishap

When a scuba diver comes up from the deep too quickly, the rapid decrease in pressure can give them a case of "the bends" or decompression sickness.

It is caused by bubbles of gas building up in the body, causing pain. It can also be fatal. Reggae singer Black Fyah is no stranger to this affliction. It is a hazard of his job, one that claimed the lives of his brother, his closest colleagues, and crippled him for over one year.

"The bends ah one wicked ting," Black Fyah said. "The sea is dangerous and beautiful inna one. The bends is a ting weh go inna yu blood line, is like air in your system, and lock off the blood from flow. It can cause minor strokes, it can cripple you up, bend you up, mek yu look disabled." Black Fyah still carries a noticeable limp today following his 2020 ordeal.

"The bends weh mi ketch, mi get a hard lick. Ah just Jah give me the strength," he said, noting that his feet "caan touch ground" and and infection even caused his testicles to swell. He checked out of the hospital early and returned to his Port Henderson Road fishing community in Portmore to recover. Over the course of 18 months, he nursed himself back to health with the help of his spiritual advisor, family and friends. He had just done his most popular song, On My Way, and his career was on the rise.

"Mi have to go Cane River, Salt River and the minerals (mineral baths) twice. Mi go Hellshire go bury miself under the sand nine morning straight, spiritually, and pray to the sun when it ah raise to take the nitrogen out of my system. Mi bredda Jermaine was there, the man who help me walk back. Him die by the same ting," he said.

He loves the sea because of the feeling of euphoria and freedom it generates in his soul, even though he has lost more than 10 relatives and friends to it.

"Is a life journey. Death no care about nobody," he said. He wrote a song titled Where Are You? which is based on his experiences. It was released a few months ago. He is also promoting a new single, Ghetto Pain, which he released via the 9Miles Records label.