Jamaican singer and deejay Carlton Williams, known by his stage name Renigad, is in Kenya for a show that he put up on Saturday night at the Nairobi Street Kitchen. His songs have painted the night scene from 2006 onwards, where parties were blazing affairs, good for the revellers, a stark nightmare for churches, institutions and parents.
Carlton is a founding member of RDX, a pioneer dancehall group from Jamaica that stirred up a fair share of controversy with songs, that were high energy, raunchy and in a moral sense hedonistic.
Buzz had a sitdown with a man known for explosive hits like "Bendover”, “Bang”, and “Kotch”.
In-person, he beats expectations, he has a stilled cadence to him, and he articulates himself with a toned-down swagger. He is unapologetic about his craft, after all, his music is all for enjoyment.
“Music is about what you say and how it is interpreted; when I do my music, it is meant for people to enjoy themselves. I do music to move people into excitement; if I do music, it is meant to move your hand, your feet or your soul. People move differently, and I cannot be always responsible for how you interpret it. I do music and you take it as you see it. If you like a song, it is because it relates to you and if you don’t, it is probably because it doesn’t relate to you. How your body moves is entirely upon you," he says.
For 19 years, Renigad X has been doing music and under his sleeve are hit songs that stirred emotions. Music is embedded in him and a manner of speech, his foot is not getting off the pedal any time soon.
“My motivation is the audience and artistes that are older than me in the industry. The audience is important to me because they are the people that push you as an artiste. Some people look up to me and some people grew up with my music. Before I came to Kenya, I was performing at a high school concert for 12 to 15-year-olds. When I leave Kenya, I am going to perform at a college in upstate New York. I am constantly re-energised by the energy of the fans,” he says.
Jamaican dancehall artist RDX during the interview on April 22, 2025 at Nairobi Street Kitchen.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
He is an eccentric when it comes to music, he has a pen with a range. He listens to all genres of music, which he combines with his personal experience and those of people around him to make his songs. Lived experiences in captured moments of mundane activities around him interest him and are encapsulated in his music.
“RDX music is generally about partying and enjoying one’s self. However with Renigad adding to that element now, I can explore more moods and not just party moods. I don’t just want to touch you when you are at a party: I want to touch you when you finish partying and before your party, I want to inspire you and show you my world if I can, and hopefully you can learn something from it. RDX is the foundation of the club but Renigad speaks to you before and after.”
For Renigad, the transition into a solo career has been nothing short of refreshing. He was in RDX the dancehall group for some time. What has being in a solo career been like?
“It is liberating. When you are in a group, you have to hold yourself back; a group is never selfish, a group setting is a dynamic, that you have to understand. RDX had an established catalogue of hit songs and then Renigad came along. As I started off, (it) was shaky but as I went along, I realised that Renigad has developed fans who are not even fans of RDX. What RDX did was establish a foundation that Renigad could build upon,” he says.
He also says that he was the foundation, he wrote all the songs of RDX by himself, and his solo career is a mere extension of a foundation he created which has seen him delve into reggae songs and even topping the chats.
Where does he get his inspiration?
“I will not sing about things I have not experienced,” he says.
He grew up in a rough background, caught in-between gang wars and his upbringing plays a large part in what his mentality looks like.
"I might be a star now, but I grew up really rough. I grew up in poverty, violence everywhere. Music was my rescue because it is what saved me from a life of crime, and with all that I take my music very seriously; it got me away from a life of debt, imprisonment or worse off, getting killed," he says.
In his career, he has had to do even more.
"I didn’t have a producer so I taught myself how to make riddims. The first set of songs produced by RDX came from an apartment I lived in called Apartment 19. Those songs were recorded in my closet and those songs became hits, they made me a star and turned me into a millionaire. With that combined, and the fact that music is my saviour, my musical focus is unhinged," he says.
"Nobody believes in nothing until it works, that eggs me on daily. Everyone will doubt you until they don’t," he says.
"I have experienced negativity because of my songs, yes, but you deal with it," he says. "Artistes generally tend to have a thick skin because it is part of being a public figure. Not everyone is going to say good things about you. When it happens to me, I deal with it. I don’t internalise negative energy because those people who will throw tantrums at you today will celebrate you tomorrow. It makes no sense magnifying negative energy when the source of that negative energy can be flipped tomorrow, when that negative person will say something good about you tomorrow. One of our biggest songs became very controversial but then it became one of our biggest songs! Negativity doesn’t harm me in terms of my mentality and focus."
“When you pray for the rain you’ve got to also prepare for the mud, you cannot pray to be a star and expect no negativity. The mud will come. Pray for the rain, pray for the mud,” he adds.
When he is not doing music, what does he do?
“I am a family man, I have a newborn. I am a man who spends most of my time, when I am not doing music, with my family, my queen and my friends. I also like to host parties where I cook. Outside music I am pretty laid back. I play football, of course, Arsenal fan,” he says.
“Tottenham fan.” I reply, to which he cuts short the interview with a burst of raucous laughter.
