What is the letter of the day? Introducing Kwame Simpson (aka Wello/Raga Rebel)

BY JONELL PANTLITZ

Many Guyanese at home and in the diaspora have become familiar with this statement from Kwame Simpson, known as ‘Wello’ and ‘Raga Rebel,’ after his popularity blasted up in late May on the Tik Tok app.

The twenty-six-year-old produced a character known as the Substitute Teacher, and he hilariously goes through the Guyanese alphabet. This well-rounded artist made Guyanese creole a significant talking point by highlighting a letter per day, using a Guyanese term and description, put together humorously and entertaining.

With everything created, there is forever inspiration that leads up to it. Wello revealed, “I just saw a random tweet of someone talking about their grandmother and how they all pronounce orange, and it was funny to me.  I also always watch these videos of people from the Caribbean diaspora explaining their patois.”  So he chose to put a little spin on it, and instead of just doing a word, he did a letter with a description, and the rest is history.

Wello also agreed that one of the reasons that his content went viral is because there is not a lot of Guyanese representation on social media, so it was foreign to the masses.

Being born in Guyana, a country in South America, Wello grew up, and lived on a farm in New Amsterdam, Berbice, until he moved with his parents to St Maarten, then back to Guyana, before finally taking up residence in New York.

But what many do not know about this twenty-six-year-old is that he is a well-rounded artist, who is involved in acting and went to college for two years to perfect his skills. Wello also makes music, which is on SoundCloud under the name ‘WELLO,’ and he is a part of a professional dance company where he is familiar with eight different dancing styles.

In a recent interview with Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, Wello admitted that it could be challenging to balance everything he does, “I started the series because of the Coronavirus, and I had some time, now it’s just trying to find time to balance everything.”

Wello also mentioned that when you are an artist, always creating content, you become worried about if the public likes your content. This is the reason he avoids planning days in advance. He just takes out his equipment and starts recording his material.

Moving away from the social media light. Wello also has a business called “The Raga Closet” (the name birthed from being called a ragamuffin while growing up in Guyana). It is a thrift store located in Brooklyn New York, he mentioned, “I started the business because people liked my fashion sense and my style.” He has plans to move it internationally.

To stay up to date with this talented artist follow his on social media @ragarebel Stay tuned for a new series coming up where he will explain Guyanese proverbs.