Canadian singer has a blast with Cannon

Turner channels Jamaican roots in debut film

Nick Cannon owes partial credit to Canada’s Kreesha Turner for helping make his directorial debut a reality. The American entertainer was acting as manager for the Edmonton-born singer-songwriter when he accompanied her to Jamaica on business.

Turner’s ties to the island run deep.

“When inviting foreigners to the island, you want to show them the part of the culture that they wouldn’t see if they were just there as a tourist on their own. So I had the opportunity to take him to all of my favourite things in Kingston,” said the Juno Awardnominated Turner.

“Because I’m such a cultural ambassador to Jamaica, I showed him all the things that I loved.

“And he was fascinated and intrigued and inspired by it, and ended up writing his script, and here we have King of the Dancehall.”

Cannon directs and stars as Tarzan, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who heads to Jamaica to enter the drug trade to cover the medical bills of his ailing mother (Whoopi Goldberg).

With the help of his cousin (Busta Rhymes), he makes headway into the world of weed. When Tarzan arrives in Kingston, he gets swept up into the dancehall craze and gets help from Maya (Kimberly Patterson) to find his groove.

The pulsating reggae music — typically characterized by rhyming or singing over uptempo beats — was popularized by artists like Sean Paul, Shabba Ranks and Beenie Man and has influenced superstars like Rihanna and Drake.

Turner makes her acting debut as Kaydeen, who is vying for Tarzan’s affections.

“The character is so opposite of my personality. I’m like: ‘Yo, people are going to hate me after this movie because I cause a lot of trouble,’” said Turner. “Needless to say there’s the lead girl, and I’m trying to steal her man.”

Turner said many people are unaware of the dance crews in Kingston, which she likens to bboy culture in hip hop.

She said she had a lot of fun training alongside dancers for her role and “absorbing the culture” entrenched within the local scene.

Turner said part of her training involved learning the art of “head top,” or spinning on her head.

“I’d never done a headstand in my life, and I started taking yoga so that I could learn because there’s a lot of yoga positions that are on your head,” she said. “I did headstands every day for at least a couple of hours a day for three months straight until I got it.”

King of the Dancehall had its world première at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired by YouTube Red.