Shabba Ranks in a tribute to his mother at her funeral says that his mother has given him the coping skills to survive the world even as she passes on. He reminisced on the type of woman she was giving him love, empathy, and teaching him to survive the world.
In videos of what appears to by Mama Christie’s funeral, several persons can be seen in masks as they listen attentively to the dancehall legend. Constance Christie affectionately called ‘Mama Christie’ died at the age of 81 on February 23, 2021.
Shabba Ranks paid tribute to the giant that Christie was, a mother so influential that she even mothered children she didn’t bear. He remembered her teaching him life skills to cope.
“She nuh give I nothing more than love, and the greatest weapon, the greatest machinery in order to live life, and face life and defeat the struggle of life, my mother give me the blood of Jesus Christ, mi seh” he began.
“you can’t survive, you can’t live without Jesus inna yuh life. So you see today, over my mother body, mi a mek unu know say if you nuh know God, Get fi know God!”
The artiste went on to say that he is a product of his mother’s wisdom and reliance on God. “See the product of God here, my mother raise me up inna that manner. This woman put on the gloves, the boxing gloves and show I how to fight life, this woman put on the gloves and show I how to survive and strive, so when unu hear Shabba say ‘boy him love him mada’, and I man work and ensure that I mother alright… I see I mother work hard to ensure I make it inna life because Me’s a yute that grow inna the ghetto but mi nuh know what ghetto life is because my mother ensure say she work hard for her seven children,” he said.
He added that his mother was always charitable to those in the community and she was extremely popular, so popular for her good deeds that dancehall Deejay Dexta Daps dedicated one of his songs after her- “Shabba Madda Pot,” named after her feeding many children in her community.
“And not only her children but everyone else children because you know from I know my mother my mother never cook a pot of food and her seven pickney alone eat that, everybody else come in and get a plate and her favourite word to me is give to all the people you can, as long as you can, however you can,” Shabba said to which there were shouts of agreement from the crowd.
