Walkerton
<p dir="ltr" align="left">Walkerton was Born Marvin Walker 1978 in Kingston Jamaica. He began making music at a very early age. The name Walkerton was given to him because as a youngster he would walk everywhere he went. He would go to school and spend all his money, including his bus fare and would not have any means of getting home except to walk. He was always the last one home because everyone else took the bus home while he walked. There were times when his brothers and sisters would be on the bus and see him walking along on his way home. They started calling him Walkathon because he loved walking so much. Because his last name is Walker, he decided to change the nickname it to Walkerton to add flavor to the meaning and pronunciation. Is it ironic that his name is Walker and he loves walking and is now called Walkerton? When asked what he thought about that he said <em>"That is just the story of my life, it is not irony but </em>faith". </p>
<p dir="ltr" align="left">Growing up in the tough rural ghettos of Kingston Jamaica is a very hard challenge for anyone. Walkerton was one who made it worked for him. He would always be at the local record stores trying to get a song on record. His family moved all over Kingston while he was young which caused the young Walkerton to constantly be in search for new resources in each neighborhood he moved into. Each neighborhood he moved into always had at least one other deejay. Walkerton would quickly seek out and challenge that deejay in order to make a name for him in that neighborhood. There were times when he thought that all challenges were over until some one new came to challenge him. He always looked forward to these street challenges because he knew that he was good enough to beat any challenger and would be creating more fans for himself. He attended Norman Manley High before migrating to the United States in 1993. Arriving in the U.S, he went to live in Brooklyn, New York where he once again started to make his music. He traveled across the United States doing various shows as a means of making a name and building a fan base. The very tired and restless deejay knew that it was very hard to get into the music business so he decided to finish school as a precautionary measure. While his friends were dropping out of school, he stuck it out because he knew that it would pay off one day. He continued his education by attending the University at Buffalo along with various other colleges, to include Columbia College of Missouri. After finishing school he started focusing on his music once again.</p>
<p dir="ltr" align="left">He was trying to make the music business work for him again since he had taken so much time off the scene. While trying to stay focus on his music he got distracted by something that would change his life forever. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1998 where he served as an infantry man to include a tour in Iraq for the initial invasion of the war. The singer/deejay is trying to put a very rough past behind him as he tries to stay focus on doing what he loves doing the most and that is making music. He once told a magazine reporter that "<em>music is my life, its all I know, all I grew up with. It is the only way that I can express myself freely".</em> Most of his lyrics are written from a positive point of view. He mainly tries to focus on the struggles that are facing the ghettos of Jamaica. He was referred to at one of his shows a while back as "<em>Poor people spokesman</em>". This was because most of his tunes at the time were specially made to address certain political issues that were affecting the poor people of Jamaica. Trying not to fall under just one category, he made it his motive to make music for all different kinds of genres which includes categories ranging from conscious vibes to the rough dancehall. Most might say that conscious artists are not supposed to do dancehall but it is extremely difficult to choose only one said the deejay. "People look at dancehall music like a curse or something. Dancehall music is apart of what describes Jamaicans. It just another type of Jamaican music, I love music in its entirety and not going to sit here and be naive about the whole situation. Therefore Im not classifying myself as either conscious or dancehall; I say whatever is on my mind as long as it feels right". </p>
<p dir="ltr">Influences</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>"The great Bob Marley, Gregory Isaac's, and the late great Dennis Brown". </em></p>
<p dir="ltr">Remembering Mama</p>
<p dir="ltr">On May 15th 2005 the woman who gave birth to the reggae star; Mertella Vernon passed away due to severe illness. She was always his reason for wanting to try harder to make it in the business. He promised her that he would make it big one day and buy her a house. Unfortunately that did not happen. Instead of giving up Walkerton is using this tragic event to be stronger. He made a new promise and that is to make his dream of being a reggae star come through. Even though his mother is not here to witness it, the reggae superstar said that he "<em>feels like she is watching and being proud".</em></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>"REST IN PEACE MOMA, I LOVE YOU ALWAYS"</em></p>