Last Updated on September 2, 2006, 12:00 am
Apple Gabriel: With Israel Vibration
By Caro Nyanga
Apple Gabriel with the fan of the day, Rasta Baby, who went to meet him at the airport with her parents.
"Don’t fight against the Rastaman with his culture music, cause the Rastaman no mean no harm. What the Rastaman wants to do is calm the storm: This is Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig’s message to Kenyans and the world. 
The reggae guru who arrived in the country on Monday night is a far cry from the stern-faced man we often see on television or read about in the Internet.
Although he is no doubt one of the popular and respected reggae personalities across the globe, his simple and down to earth demenour makes him easily approachable.
Albert Graig popularly known as Apple Gabriel is indeed credited for redefining reggae music and making it acceptable throughout the world alongside the likes of Burning Spear, the late Bob Marley, Joseph Hill, Dennis Brown and Peter Tosh.
"I’m glad to be in Kenya, for me it’s a great vision come true," says the legend who is visiting Africa for the first time.
Apple says he has been looking forward to coming to Africa for many years and he is glad that this has finally happened.
"I feel like I’m back in the garden of Eden, where freedom is everywhere," he says, adding that his vision is to build a city of love in Kenya in the near future.
Apple says having read a lot about Kenya in various books he found it very significant to be here and see for himself.
"I won’t say much about what I have in store for Kenyans as far as the shows are concerned but all I can say is we just gonna jam it and ram it," he says. (He already performed a VIP show at KICC yesterday in which a number of revelers turned up to see their idol.
During the time of the interview the reggae guru who is also believed to be one of the prophets was accompanied by his crew members consisting of: Chaka, Alana Lee, Toyin Adekele, Dj Dangejah One Shasha, Spida, Panza, Ricky Turbo, Fatal vibez, Killa, Puma, Supa Don King Turbo, Ricky and Sling Shot at a Nairobi hotel.
Toyin Adekale and Alana Lee, back-up vocalists
Observers are agreed that watching him perform on crutches has indeed touched many hearts across the world. The polio he contracted at an early age of three and a half did not deter him from following the yearnings of his heart- away from life’s prescribed journey into doing spiritual reggae music. 
"It was out of the pain and sorrow I underwent at a tender age that I realised the need to bring joy to the audience whenever I perform because I believe that a show has a special impact on not only influencing people but proving my ability as a person.
"The spirit inside me in most cases drives me to sing and dance leaving many amazed and dazed at the same time," he says now beginning to open up.
The reggae living legend, who is also the founder of the Israel Vibration Group in Jamaica says he is looking forward to writing something about Kenya when he returns back home.
"I believe the warm reception combined with the great experience I already have is worth letting the world know," he says.
The legend who has been in the music business for 31 years now say contrary to what many may think he considers himself a servant of the most high, the likes of Joshua and Moses, just to name a few.
Part of the Vibration crew during the Press Conference.
"When I was a little boy I had a vision from the most high and since then I spent my entire life reading and trying to understand the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelations, every chapter, line and word," he says, adding that he often got his hands on anything that involved prophecy. 
It is not uncommon to hear stories of a reggae star’s rise from the ghettos of Jamaica to international fame. But few performers have endured as much or struggled as hard as Apple Gabriel, founder of the globally renowned harmony trio Israel Vibration, who has embarked on a solo career in 1998. Throughout the group’s career, Apple has been the writer and singer of an inordinate number of Israel Vibration’s ‘anthemic’ songs, the inventor of their ethereal "bionic" roots harmonies, and the singer of the great majority of "I-Vibes" recorded harmony vocals.
At the age of three and a half he contracted poliovirus. He had lost the ability to move the lower half of his body from the dreadful disease. Those who had become "contaminated" by the polio virus were banished from their homes and placed in centers often filled with other infected children.
Apple explains that since most families in Jamaica did not have the economic resources to afford sufficient medical care for their families the affected were sent to Mona Rehabilitation Centre in Kingston.
"At the time people were not being vaccinated and hence the disease spread like fire. Within hours hospitals were filled with thousands of the affected victims," he recalls.
During the time he was shifted to three different institutions:Handicap, Salvation Army and Alpha Approved School before finally moving to Mona Rehabilitation Centre.
At 10, Apple taught himself how to play the piano and soon after wrote his first song.
"I believe at the time I had this rebelling spirit in me and hence the reason for not being able to settle in one institution. This is simply because I didn’t understand why I had to be taken away from my parents at such a tender age simply because I had polio," he says.
By the time he was 14, decided to run away and found himself on the streets. "I would often hide in the bushes and focus on reading the Bible. When need arose I sometimes stole books from a nearby university and library because of my thirst for knowledge," he recalls.
Apple Gabriel soon found himself committed to the Mona Polio Rehabilitation Centre, where he was subjected to medical experiments and regularly endured the conventional treatment for polio at that time. It was at this centre that he met his partners-to-be in Israel Vibration Cecil "Skelly" Spence and Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin.
The three young men where drawn to each other through the hardships and struggles that they lived each day.
Apple recalls they were horribly abused and mistreated, as they were often the subjects of cruel experiments at the time. "I recall having a blistering hot blanket wrapped around my legs by one of the centre’s nurses," he says.
The three found themselves with little to keep them occupied so one day they started singing harmonies. As Apple recalls, "We would just sit down and sing every day because we never had anything else to do."
Israel Vibration was now almost complete; they had three lead singers and a piano back up, now all they needed was the message and leadership of Jah-Rastafari.
While at the centre the men met a Rasta elder named Baba Douse. He taught them about Rastafari and of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia along with Jah and the Rasta’s culture. "Living life with polio was a day-to-day challenge and I felt that Rastafari gave me the much needed hope and praise," says Apple.
Apple recalls that at the time they had their own problems and struggles to overcome. "At some point we would often question God’s reasoning for giving us polio, and why people had to treated us indifferently", he says with a look of the past.
"Being cursed at and called a cripple hurt us beyond the physical pain of the disease". But Apple reveals that as time went by the pain ceased and transformed into a spiritual and emotional charisma emanating from each of their souls.
"It takes a lot from me outta life, but at the same time it gives me much more in life," he said during an earlier interview in 1996.
For him one excerpt of Emperor Selassie teachings that he feels is relevant to Israel Vibration is the saying that goes "Wise men have always known the deep and pervading truth that it is better to give than to receive, for even as it conflicts with selfish and ambitious desires, it moderates and controls them. Giving always demands sacrifice. To overcome the temptation to enjoy mere daily comfort, to press resolutely and patiently forward on the scheduled way, are true tests of the high degree of determination that should bind us together.
Apple says by mastering this and putting it in practice memories of past injustices did not divert them from the more pressing business at hand."
With time, the three began what would become a lifelong dedication to Rastafarianism. They each grew their hair into the traditional natty dread locks in accordance with their Rastafarian beliefs, smoked ganja and read the Bible whole day. The staff at the Polio Rehabilitation Centre did not accept the dread and kicked Apple, Skelly, and Wiss out of the institution.
The institution made me an offer to shave my dreadlocks, leave ganja and the Bible for a good job which I declined because I believed that what I was doing was a prophecy," he says
The three were shifted around to other centers until 1969, when they were finally and permanently expelled from the institutions.
They took to life in the bushlike area where donkeys horses cows and trees were their partners. Here they did every thing they could to survive. They began composing and singing songs that express their spiritual beliefs in Jah-Rastafari.
"With nothing more to do we would often hang out, smoke ganga, and develop three part harmonies that would later distinguish Israel Vibration’s unique style," says Apple.
And true to their wish it didn’t take very long for people to recognise their singing talent.
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