LARGE ABROAD: Lluidas Vale native lifted by adoption, ambition

LARGE ABROAD: Lluidas Vale native lifted by adoption, ambition

October 7, 2019 0 By Horace Mills

His real name is Christopher Wallace, but many people who follow his music and social media gigs know him simply as Dr Love.

Wallace, now a recording artiste and building contractor in the United States, is rooted in the rural community of Lluidas Vale, St Catherine.

He enjoyed running behind cane trucks and picking up bottles after parties while he was a little boy, growing up in a place where parties were aplenty and the sugarcane industry was high spirited.

“Growing up in Lluidas Vale was fun; it was enjoyable,” Wallace told The Beacon. “Everybody was like a family, looking out for each other.”

One resident who looked out for many was Harold Crooks, a former head of the now defunct Island Special Constabulary Force.

“He used to feed a lot of people and help a lot of them to go to school and to become police officers,” Wallace said, adding that he too is a beneficiary of Crooks’ benevolence.

He stated that Crooks adopted him, and eventually relocated him from Lluidas Vale to Kingston, where living conditions were much better.

Wallace was 11 years old when he moved to Kingston; he migrated to the United States when he was age 15 – thanks to Crooks.

“Mr Crooks adopted me because that was the only way for me to migrate with his family to the United States,” Wallace recalled. “I am glad it happened; it opened a lot of doors for me.”

He noted that, during his childhood, he was very close to Crooks’ daughter, Nicky-Ann. That’s a reason the Crooks family was drawn to him.

Wallace said he is now the owner of a construction company in the United States.

“I am here building my own houses now; I have done a lot of large projects. I also employed people from my community and from other communities,” he added.

Wallace also dabbles in music, and is associated with many bigwigs in the Jamaican music industry.

His first major song, Now I Am Strong, is a collab done in 2009 with Reggae artiste Da’ville.

“My musical journey has given me a door to perform with a lot of international artistes,” Wallace told The Beacon, adding that artistes who helped to push his career include Barrington Levy, Queen Ifrika, Tony Rebel, D’Ville, and Romain Virgo.

Wallace, a 37-year-old past student of Lluidas Vale Primary School and New Day Primary in Kingston, said he wants to help some promising young artistes in Lluidas Vale.

“People can expect to see me in the community more often, and bringing some of my fellow workers and entertainers to the community. I also plan to keep some shows there to help the community and the elders,” he further said.

Wallace, the father of a 13-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, encouraged people to make the best of opportunities – like he did.

“You have to spread your wings and take risks in life; make the best of opportunities,” said the son of Beryl Wallace and Wilbert ‘Country’ Wallace – both from Lluidas Vale.

About the author: Horace Mills holds a B.A degree in Media and Communications from the University of the West Indies (CARIMAC). He worked as a freelance writer at Teen Herald while in high school, as Senior Reporter at The North Coast Times, as Journalist and News Presenter at IRIE FM, and as Editor of the leading news publication in the British Virgin Islands – BVI News. Mills also served as Editor of The Eagle, published by Charlemont High School where he was Head Boy. He is recipient of various awards including the Fairplay Award and the Prime Minister’s National Youth Award for Excellence in Journalism.


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