POPPY SEH HIM BRING HIM FREN COME TOWN FI A BETTER LIFE AND DEM KILL HIM

Lionel Rookwood Popcaan fights back the tears as he remembers his friend Shagel, who was killed in the artiste’s upper St Andrew Home.
It was the first time he was publicly addressing the death of his close friend Shagel, and entertainer Popcaan had to fight back tears as he paid tribute to a man he described as more than a friend.

Sporting a T-shirt bearing the image of his fallen friend, Popcaan shared how he took Shagel with him to Kingston to create a better life. “Me born a one place round deh so weh name Hatfield – most people dont know it, but is a place inna St Thomas. Mi born right up deh so a Princess Margaret Hospital, so me is a star from the east, and as time goes by, me meet me friends and me family, and me share the love wid dem,” he said in-between holding his eyes as if trying to stop the tears from escaping.

“And me carry one a me bredda dem from St Thomas – me family. Me carry him come a town wid me fi better him life and better him family life, and some bwoy go inna me house go kill him. But guess wah, God see everything and God know everything ’cause Shagel a one a di realest yute weh me ever know inna me life, yuh hear dat, and a my bredda dat and me love him fi life.”

The entertainer then went into a touching rendition of his 2014 hit, Devotion, the lyrics of the song describing what Popcaan and the Unruly camp must be feeling following the death of their loved one. “Me nuh know weh dem kill yuh fa, all now me nuh know weh dem kill yuh fah, but Jah knows,” Popcaan sang. “So yuh know when yuh true fren gone, when yuh hurt till yuh can’t stop bawl, me heart move when a your name call, big man a cry like gyal,” he continued.

Shagel, whose birth name is Junior Thompson, was part of Popcaan’s Unruly camp. The body of the 38-year-old from Prospect District in St Thomas, was found earlier this month at Popcaan’s upper St Andrew residence. It is believed that Thompson was killed in an attempted robbery.