The world fastest man has decided to try his luck doing something else. After leaving athletics, the Jamaican Usain Bolt had two small adventures in soccer, although without being entitled to a professional contract. He now has a new career as a reggae singer. Bolt has released an album in the company of childhood friend and his manager Nugent “NJ” Walker. Entitled “Country Yutes,” it is one of Billboards’ reggae highlights.
To talk about Usain Bolt, even after his career is over, is to talk about the fastest man in the world. It may have been four years since he left the track but the 100-meter world record is still his.
In everything I do, I want to be the best
Usain Bolt
From 2008 until the end of his career he participated in 146 races, winning 134. Usain Bolt accumulated world titles, Olympic titles and record after record, including the 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters, achieved in 2009 and still today the best mark in history.
The athlete got used to listening to music in his family from an early age. “Obviously you hear Bob Marley everywhere in Jamaica,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. Music was one of his great passions yet it wasn’t even the future he imagined for himself as a kid. “I wanted to be a spy,” he said. Bolt recalled how The James Bond movies he saw at the time made him have those dreams.
Bolt says that he had never imagined he would dedicate so much time to music now, but because of the pandemic, he found himself with more free time on his hands. And he took advantage of it. His relationship with reggae had already been developing over the last years, in production jobs and in releasing mix tapes.
I don’t think my voice is that good for singing. I don’t plan to pick up the microphone unless absolutely necessary. I’m more the guy behind the decks, cheering the crowd on, giving off that vibe
Usain bolt
Despite his competitive spirit, Bolt admits that he is changing, at least in this particular aspect of his life. The plan in reggae, he says, is not to win. It’s to have fun.
