For Saiku Andr

The name Saiku Andrews has had tongues wagging in Guyana for some months now since the release of his album ‘You’ and “Pillow Could Speak” has been one of the most requested crossover songs in Guyana, making Saiku possibly the most soughtafter artiste in the country.

Just last Saturday night, Saiku made a guest appearance at the Guyana Conference of Seventh Day Adventist organised Advent Praise Annual Concert held at the National Cultural Centre and his onstage presence caused quite a storm among the young people in the audience who sang along to his songs, word for word.

Each song was an amazing performance and a listen to the lyrics tells one story after another; a story of a man who struggled and found God through it all.

Aside from “Pillow Could Speak”, Saiku is also known for “Mess to A Messenger”. What many may not know is that he was the man behind the lyrics of the famous Guyanese group First Born’s anthem “How Are We Gonna Survive?”

“I remember lying on a top bunk in one of those range houses. There was a commotion going on in the neighbourhood. Usually it was somebody getting stabbed or something like that. As I was lying there I was wondering how will we survive if we keep on like this…,” said the singer, speaking about how he came up with the lyrics.

The name Saiku is fast becoming a household name in Guyana and easily so because fans can relate to the issues he sings about. But in fact, the name is peculiar in Guyana and Saiku may be the only one with this name in the country.

While Saiku’s mother was pregnant with him back in the 1970s, she had a dream in which an African king told her to name her baby Saiku. She had never heard the name before and the king in the dream spelled it for her. She had always thought the name to be of African origin and of royal background and that was the meaning she embedded into Saiku from since he was young. Then when he was old enough, curiosity got the better of him and he went in search of it’s meaning on Google where he learnt that Saiku is an African name for musician of a king. But some years later, when he checked again, he found it to be a Japanese name that means ‘craftsmanship’. Whether musician of a king, or craftsman, Saiku has long ascribed his own meaning that being that whether he belongs to royalty or not, he is rely royal being linked to a heavenly King.

But not only do his mother and siblings believe him to be someone with royal background, they also believe him to be a miracle baby. Here’s why: When Saiku was born he was frequently sick and it was always serious enough so that he ended up at the hospital. Because he was constantly ill, he was a tiny child. According to Saiku, his sisters would tell him they never expected him to live and his Godmother would often say to him how amazing it is to see him alive as she too thought the same. He believes just like them