Caribbean Beat — November/December 2018 (#154)

Joseph Okpako/getty images
Twins” — Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. This was also
the decade when Jones would launch out into film, landing
roles in Conan the Destroyer and the James Bond movie A View
to a Kill. She was also a favourite with the tabloids, who were
obsessed with her romantic involvement with Rocky IV star
Dolph Lundgren.
In 1985, she unleashed Slave to the Rhythm and Island Life.
The following year, Inside Story spawned one of her last successful
singles, “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You).”
After 1989’s Bulletproof Heart, Jones continued to record
singles and collaborations with performers as diverse as
operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti and rapper Lil’ Kim — but
for almost two decades Jones released no new albums. Then
came 2008’s Hurricane, “classic Jones,” according to one
review, featuring a slew of guest performers. “This being
Grace Jones,” wrote the music magazine Pitchfork, “she easily
upstages her contingent of helpers. Indeed, Jones isn’t so
much a singer as a force of nature, a black hole that pulls all
attention right to its centre.”
But despite her undeniable diva status, and her elusiveness
as a subject (“Grace only does press when she feels she has
something new to say”, according to her agent), at home in
Jamaica, she can be herself. “I immediately warmed to her,”
recalls Carolyn Cooper. “She didn’t have the vibe I was expecting.
You know, when you hear Grace Jones, you think she’ll be
full of herself. But she was just cool. I admire that about her. She
wasn’t caught up in the hype.” n
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