All About Buhwamoder
By Nigel Telesford (T&T Express)
He's the latest comedian to hit the scene. Many have watched his YouTube parody clips and subsequent music video for Bend Right Over, which have attracted over 500,000 views and made Dominic Elias, the entity known as "Buhwamoder" famous.
Express Reporter, Nigel Telesford caught up with "Buhwamoder" last Tuesday evening following his debut performance at Woodford Cafe in MovieTowne, Invader's Bay, Port of Spain and discovered that he's never stops joking and answers all questions in character. Hence everything he says here must be taken with suspended belief and large grains of salt.
Here's how it went down:
NT: You got a really good response in there. First off, what's your real name?
BM: Buhwamoder Latchmaner-Persad-Singh. People does have trouble with the Buhwamoder, they doesn' understand it and they don't understand the last name, Latchmaner-Persad-Singh. Watch, I'll tell yuh de story straight-off: when ah was young ah had plenty father—ah had ah Latchman, ah Persad and ah had ah Singh, by age 13 ah throw them all together and ah been rolling with it ever since! Yuh an-stand (understand)? Normel...
NT (laughing): Ok, so where are you from?
BM: (serious-faced and rattling off information like Bunji Garlin freestyling): Well ah was originally from Penal, ah went Penal Secondary, but ah drop out in Form 3. Me and muh wife get married from there and we have ah kid.
Start selling doubles an we move tuh Carapichaima: yuh know dey have too much competition in Penal! We had to move tuh Carapichaima, start we house and well, yuh know make more profit an' ting. And then, well, this whole scene start up so now ah have muh daughter, Tomika Joseph who is five-years-old, she runnin' de stand now, while I singing and doing everything else, yuh an-stand?
NT (still laughing): Is any of that for real?
BM (still serious-faced): Well, daiz the scene! Yuh askin me, Buhwamoder, about my life and ah tellin' yuh the scene straight-up...
NT (beginning to believe): Ok, so how did you end up in this whole scene? How did u end up online and how did this all start?
BM: Well ah was in ah lil bad mood and ah wanted tuh be creative, so ah went online... Ah wanted tuh dub over something and ah find the Slap-Chop man... Ah find he was movin' he hand fast and talking quick, so ah say the Trinidad accent on he will fit real nice! So ah do it... Ah put it on, ah send it tuh muh partners an' ting... Ah jus wanted tuh ketch ah lil kicks, but it blow up, it blow up!
And well, ah had ah song in muh head fuh years: 'make de gyal dem bend right over'—that was de song ah had in muh head fuh years right, so after the slap-chop ting blow up, ah say well, hear what: leh we make the song, leh we throw some slap-chop in it, throw it in the mix and then go from there. Daiz wha ah did, daiz wha ah did...
NT: So what do you do during the day, do you have a job?
BM: Well as ah told yuh, ah used tuh sell doubles an' ting... and now ah doing this: ah making video, ah singing song in club, ah jus basically making them girls back ben', ah making fellahs laugh, ah making everybody enjoy theyself. Whether is online, whether is real life, whether is you interviewing me getting ah quick laugh, them kinda tings. Ah just want tuh entertain: ah come tuh show Trinidad and Tobago that they have more tuh just general vibes to keep it fresh and new and exciting and ah come tuh drop fresh all de time... and daiz wha ah come tuh do: entertain on many levels.
NT: Ok, I hear yuh boss. So for this season, you just rolling with that one song, or do you have more coming?
BM: Well, we'll see how it goes... Ah don't want tuh jeopardise certain things and yuh know, mess up certain scenes cause yuh have to analyse what goin' on before yuh could do other things, yuh an-stand? Because the song picking up... and people liking it an' ting... ah was in Zen earlier this week too, ah make muh stage debut wit' 3Veni and KI and them and it was nice; it was nice, yuh know... good vibes. Peaces...
NT: Let's get to your image now. Is that your real hair?
BM: Well yeah, daiz muh real hair. Daiz your real hair? (Yes) Well then, WET! Ah know it lil thready, yes ah kno it ah lil thready, but sometimes daiz life: yuh cyah get everyting perfect, yuh cyah get everyting the way yuh want, yuh an-stand?
NT: Well that's true, but ah jus wondering why yuh decide tuh come with an image like that?
BM: Well, is not so much of ah image: this how I born, yuh an-stand. If yuh go on Facebook an' ting, ah ha' (have) baby pictures with me as ah baby with the same hair an' shades an' ting down in canoe an' ting in Caroni, all kinda ting... Ah have proof that ah been like this ever since!
NT (starts back laughing): You'z ah real comedian yes!
BM (matter of factly): Well daiz the main ting... Ah love comedy an' ah realise people in Trinidad love sh**—ah could say sh**? Well they real love sh** yuh an-stand and ah come tuh give them sh** tuh laugh at and enjoy themselves... Yeah, daiz de scene: I-is ah comedian, but I also could do other things. Even though ah hav' ah soca song an' it mashin-up, it's comedic, it could have funny in it because people like tuh laugh and people like tuh get on bad and if yuh mix it up too an' yuh add them back both, well yuh done know de scene!
NT (laughing uncontrollably): How old are you?
BM: 24
NT: Well, you have far to go still then...
BM: Well, it's only been five months and the scene has blown up on ah level that I coulda never comprehend it from the start. Ah lot of people have asked me to do ah lot ah work since then, but I just say it have ah lot ah time for me to express myself in ah lot ah ways, so people have ah lot to look out for: 2011 will be a big year!
NT: Daiz true, you did a bmobile ad already, ent?
BM: Yes, I did a few things for bmobile... Ah turn down ah lot ah people as well because if I jus come and ah throw-in my vibes on everything, it might ah just kill it na... and I not about dat. I about keeping the vibes goin'... So I-is hatta make ah lot ah decisions an' ting: ah doh jus jump at every opportunity as ah hear money cause money is not what I after.
Ah looking tuh build my brand and ah looking tuh entertain and all kinda ting and if money was my motivation, this whole scene would ah die out long time because ah would ah gone down different paths in chasing money and daiz not my scene, money is not my scene.
