54-year-old Nitty Kutchie is shredding the tires, showing off his strength and balance during fitness routines, as the veteran musician is now more established in his newfound love as a ‘fitness guru’.
However, he said THE WEEKEND STAR that it was a shocking health scare that brought him closer to exercising.
“A blister comes up on my leg and just bursts, and when it bursts it’s like it gets better. I’m a five doctor and just spend money, until one day [a friend] take a doctor across Portmore and he said, “Wah yuh eat?” and [when mi tell him] he seh mi fi stop eating brain and dem ting deh, stop drinking soda and energy drinks and just start drinking water. And after I started drinking water and soaking in warm salt water, I started doing better,” he said.
“I always love exercise from the morning, but now it’s like I love it more when I see how many people are sick and deh [hospital]; and a whole bunch of people we have money in deh and realize what that money cya help them. Suh mi seh dis [exercising] addi a real doctor,” he added
Although his strict training regimen has only recently surfaced online, he said he has been doing the training for the past 20 years. He said people advised him to start using social media like TikTok.
“I’m saying I don’t love these things, enuh. I don’t like it, because I’m saying I’m not doing for people, I’m doing this for myself. Then I said no, it’s selfish Now we do for everyone, and [dem] start communicating with me and I feel good about it,” he said.
He hopes to expand his practice area, called “Hilltop”, in the Queen Hill area of St Andrew. Three professional trainers (Maxine Norton, Kemar Graham, and Inspector Carlene Wallace) monitor the members, with Norton in charge of the “camp.” Nitty Kutchie wants to transform it into a “fully equipped outdoor fitness space”. The team also plans to bring the training to other communities to “elevate and make Jamaica a better place” through fitness. However, they are asking for help from Jamaican companies.
The exercises emphasize core and strength building because “a man is strong”. Since some of the trainees are music professionals, Nitty Kutchie said there are benefits to these exercises for this special group of people.
“It (exercise) is a doctor for the body and if [so]it means it’s a doctor fi yuh song. Suh if you can run up a hill and sing on one level, on one key, addi the same [you’re gonna achieve] when you sing yuh song dem,” he said. “Mi wudda advise everyone to park for at least 15 minutes [exercise] in the morning time. It’s good to sleep better, it’s better to have sex better, think better and change your mind to a better place.”
Producer Skatta Burrell, one of Nitty Kutchie’s regulars, said he has seen the benefits.
“I don’t get colds or the flu because I started training and I was really sick. [pressure] pill dem. A doctor has seen me a lot, because I dropped and am stable at 208 kilos now, and I was 229. I have been following them online for a while and finally I got brave and came up here; and from mi start, mi nuh stop,” he said.
Nitty Kutchie admitted that although he is not performing the way he used to or wanted to, he is still working on his craft and is in tune with today’s music. He said he has never given up on music and will balance it with exercise, because they complement each other. His latest single, Lord I thank you, featuring Buju Banton, has garnered more than 70,000 views and close to 1,500 likes on YouTube.
Career coach Maxine Norton said: “I’ve been here for over 10 years; when I arrived I was about 198 pounds, I’m 50 – a lot of people don’t believe it. [but] this is what exercise does to you, it gives you that renewed look, energy. It has also helped me mentally because last year I went through a very tragic time. Health is wealth; age doesn’t matter, start at whatever age you are because none of us know how long we have on this earth and once you’re healthy you can tackle anything.”
Vocational trainer Kemar Graham testified how being a part of the camp has taught him a lot of anger management lessons, “Health is wealth and I want everyone to know that. Nitty Kutchie is like a father to me, a whole lot I learn from him as well [elderly workout colleages ‘Bongo’ and ‘Uncle Uroy’]. We learn from each other and help and encourage each other; ano all addi mawnin wi come here I always feel 100 percent but I always have a person deh inside wi horn when I come here fi help push wi fi I’m sure to finish whatever come here and do. Once I did dark and ignorant and it helped me change and it changed a whole heap,” Graham said as he encouraged everyone to sacrifice at least five or ten minutes a day to “make an effort to do some sort of exercise . [while] to eat healthy”.
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