Zemroy Thomas, now 41, has been making music since he was 14 and is currently recording his eighth album.
The youth worker and mentor works with children across Bristol who have been excluded from mainstream schools and are at risk of getting involved in crime or exploitation.
The Jamaican singer and songwriter, who goes by the name Da Fuchaman, has made Bristol his home and will be starting and ending his UK tour with his Fireblaze band in Bristol.
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He said that he loves the “incredible people of Bristol” and that the "love I get from day to day people in Bristol is overwhelming”.
In 2018 he won the award for Best Reggae Artist in the South West but has also preformed in Jamaica, across Europe and at many UK festivals, with Boomtown being his favourite.
He has worked with many renowned reggae artists including Anthony B, turbulence and Perfect Giddimani.
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He has performed on stages with the likes of Morgan Heritage, Horace Andy, Sista Nancy, Freddie McGregor and the late Frankie Paul to name a few.
Zemroy Thomas was born and raised in St Ann Parish, Jamaica, in a small village called Middle Buxton.
He began singing in churches and schools before the age of 10 and started performing on sound systems in his teens.
When he was 14 he was given the name Da Fuchaman, a nickname that he didn’t like at first because it was originally used by friends who were laughing about stories he had told a girl he fancied, stories which he claims to be false.
He said: “There was a girl, me and her were very good friends, I kind of liked her if I’m honest.
“This guy went and told her that I was saying I was going to do all these things in the future and at the time I didn’t find it funny because he was lying.
“I was quite embarrassed but it became stuck on me, I was going to perform on a sound system and before I knew it there was a photo going around of me with the name Futureman.
“In 2012, I made it more unique and changed the spelling, like the bush because I’m a proud country boy, from the hills of Jamaica.”
Da Fuchaman has made it his mission to be an inspiration to young people in Bristol, Jamaica and across the world.
He does this not only by spreading “the message of one love” through his music but also through the work he does with young people across Bristol.
He works at schools across the Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) and is currently leading a mentoring programme.
He started doing youth work in 2004 and when he got the chance to work with disadvantaged young people in Bristol, he felt he could naturally relate to them: “I can associate myself with them as a youth growing up, not a lot of people had a lot of hopes that you will make it somewhere, especially coming out of a poor background.
“I felt straight away that I could relate to them and when I found this job, I felt this is such an important job and it’s such a great opportunity to help people to be their best selves.
“I work with people from all kinds of challenging backgrounds and because of my personality, I get on well with youths everywhere.
“Sometimes when they get youths that are very challenging, I do a one-to one with them.
“I run a mentoring programme, I think it’s very important to get their views and how they see life and show them what you can offer them.”
Zemroy did not always have it easy growing up, he had to share an overcrowded bedroom with siblings and sometimes went to bed hungry.
He added: “I grew up really poor in a third world country, I remember me and all my brothers and sisters packed up into two very likkle rooms.
“I know what it’s like to go to bed hungry and to not be able to go to school because you don’t have lunch money.
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“I don’t regret that because it’s what made me who I am and it gave me a more positive outlook on life.
“I try and be an inspiration for the youth that’s there now, who is in the position that I was in.
“I try to be the one to inspire them to say, I was once you, if I can step out of it and do alright for myself then so can you.”
The lyrics of Da Fuchaman's songs are a reflection of his own struggles as well as a channel to inspire others, his music is conscious, roots reggae and he has in the past turned down deals with major record labels in order to stay true to his beliefs.
He said: “One of the things I didn’t like about being major was they wanted to try and make me something that I wasn’t.
“They wanted me to sing more of the cheesy stuff because they think that’s what people want to hear.
“My music is not really about that, my music is a representation of poor people and people going through suffering or struggles, because that’s all I know, that’s what I sing about.
“My music is one which is about uplifting people without a voice, music with meaning, telling people not to give up, stay positive and try and live for each moment, knowing that better days will come.
“I see myself as a messenger for Jah, just spreading love and oneness and equal rights and justice for all.
“My dad was a Rasta and I grew up around a lot of Rastas, I just love the way of the Rasta because it’s a representation of equality for all mankind despite your race, religion, background or wherever you come from.”
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He often films his music videos in Jamaica and tries to include all the young people from his village who are inspired by his work and want to be singers and MC’s.
One of his most memorable performances was a few years ago when he went back to perform to for the first time in Jamaica after living for years in the UK.
His parents saw him perform live for the first time and all the people who he grew up with and had supported him in the early stages of his career were able to see him perform live as an established international reggae singer.
Although Da Fuchaman said he is not into politics, he has been referred to musically as a revolutionary because of the lyrics in his songs.
“The establishment, I find doesn’t really cater for the people who really need it, it’s a system that’s created to keep the rich people rich and the poor people poor.
“It’s up to us, we’ve got a job on our hands to show the youths that even though the system is like that, you can still be what you want to be if you’re willing to work hard enough to achieve that.
“I can’t go to Downing Street and tell the government and Prime Minister what I think of them but I can sing about it in a song and represent people who don’t have a voice so they don’t feel so alone.
He wants everyone to have his latest single, I Feel Good, for free because it is “very positive and uplifting”. The song can be downloaded by scanning the QR code below.
Da Fuchaman will be performing in Bristol at The Fiddlers on March 4, to get a ticket please follow this link.
You can also listen to Da Fuchaman on Youtube here and on Spotify here.
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