Potential comes of age
When Potential Kidd started out his musical quest at age 25, his name reflected a combination of a word he thought described his talent, passion and his capacity to grow. The addition of the word ‘Kidd’ reflected his youthfulness in age and in the music industry.
Now 34, the Yah Suh Nice hitmaker has decided to drop the part of his name that reflects youth, opting instead to go by the name Potential. He said that his name change was inevitable and has been on his mind for years.
“A long time mi wah change mi name but mi friends dem always discourage mi, but wen mi link up wid di label in US fi di new projects, dem see mi vision and agree wid di name change, suh mi ready now,” the Trench Town native said. Potential, whose given name is Dwayne Taylor, is also known for Jump Pan Mi, which, along with Yah Suh Nice, gave him the opportunity to go on regular tours. “Ever since mi buss wid Yah Suh Nice and Jump Pan Mi, a just tour mi a tour all over – Trinidad, Antigua, St Lucia, USA, England, Costa Rica an a nuff oda places — Dem song deh tek mi over di year suh di work neva stop fi mi, all wen unnu nuh see me inna Jamaica. Plus, mi hav’ three No. 1 songs inna Trinidad, and di fans dem love mi, suh mi just always a do work wen unuh nuh see mi, mi a do freestyle an inna studio,” Potential said.
He knows, however, that there is no place like home. Potential says the name change will help reintroduce him to his Jamaican massive and to let them know he is no longer a kid, but an artiste who has come of age.
“Mi ready fi the Jamaican market again, mi nuh know why Jamaican money nuh love mi, but mi ready fi tek some of it,” he said. Back in 2012, Potential Kidd was an artiste on the rise and his song, Yah Suh Nice, was the talk on everyone’s tongues. He inked a multimillion deal with telecommunications company LIME, but was dropped following concern about the content of the unedited version of the single. Looking back at that episode, Potential said: “Mi learn nuff tings bout di industry an mi have people roun mi a show mi how fi deal wid dem tings deh betta nex time. Mi naah go sey it never stop certain tings fi mi, but it never stop mi completely, cause mi still did a do mi ting. An right now, di only ting change wid Potential Kidd a mi name an’ new music weh mi hav’, but mi lyrics dem still bad and mi still a sing fi di girls dem dance and gwaan bad.”
“Mi have a new single out right now name Tape Recorder, weh a touch road, all when unuh see di video unuh ago see a different side of mi,” the artiste said.