Valdeen Shears-Neptune
With Carnival 2016 just concluded, the Sunday Guardian sat down with one of the country's newest local celebrities, whose performances and name now appear to be known locally, regionally and internationally although months ago he was a nonentity. Ellis Reid, fondly called "Uncle Ellis" by all, gave us an insight into the man behind the moves.
He remembers when he was at his lowest in life. This was when his mind and body were controlled by illegal drugs and the medication he was administered by staff at a mental institution.He remembers too, years of struggle as a child and teenager, and a father who was often absent because of the demands of his job.
Reid was one among many, having six brothers and three sisters, but always a loner. Born and raised at Oxford Street, Port-of-Spain, Reid recalled his father, Ellington, as a hard-working man, but couldn't recall anything about his biological mom, Adina. She left the family's home when he was a child and later died before any relationship could be formed.
Reid's youngest sister, Linda, who is half of a twin, told the Sunday Guardian, however, that at no time was he ever really homeless.
"It pained me to see and hear people calling him a vagrant or homeless and crazy, when we (his family) knew this was not so. It also came across as if he had no living relatives. Two of his brothers have died, but the rest of us are around and we always knew where he was.He never left town, even when the drugs made him wander off, it was never far," she explained.
In fact, she noted that while the family had voiced concerns that he might endanger others because of his drug use at the time, Reid came and went as he pleased.A food vendor by trade, Linda still lives at 16 Oxford Street, where they all grew up.
"Ellis is a cool and really nice fella, you know. He was never, ever mad, either. It was just when he used the drugs it used to get him hyper-like.
"Let me tell you, if he was not clean, no one could get him to stay one place or to be looking how good he looking. I can tell you that," stated Linda during a telephone interview.She believes that abandonment and having to struggle so much growing up drove her elder brother down the path he took.
The family always knew where he was, even when he was on the streets, she said. They knew too when he was picked up by the police and taken to St Ann's for evaluation and medication to clean his system.
Linda said they always held on to the hope that one day he would remain that way, but the drugs kept pulling him back.She said she watched helplessly as her brother battled with drug use for years and then someone came and told her he was getting famous.
"Listen, where Ellis was and where he is right now is so different. It has to be God that has kept him and is keeping him clean and drug-free.
I see it when I see him. It's like he is a different person now. In control of himself and his life," she said, sounding a bit amazed.
Linda, however, expressed the hope that her brother would not be exploited. "I told the young man who came with him to me. I told him God don't like ugly and he better treat him good, don't advantage him, because regardless of what people think or believe, Ellis has a family and there is a God above," she stated.
Linda also noted that while drug use may have seen her brother journey down a dark path, she is ecstatic that he appears to have finally conquered his "demons."
Uncle Ellis talks to Trinidad Guardian
He ordered hot tea the moment he sat down in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain.Mere minutes later, a woman approached and asked for a photo opportunity for her teenage daughter. The young girl looked excited and wiggled her fingers in acknowledgement, as her mother pointed in her direction.
Uncle Ellis simply smiled and allowed them to take a few shots with their mobile phone.It seemed so natural to him, as if he was born into celebrity status. This, though, could not be farther from the truth.
Reid could very well presently be the most famous Trinidadian right now, but there was a time that he was simply a "jokey dancer" to many. His life began and could have ended as just one colossal story of struggle, lack of education and illegal drugs.When the T&T Guardian sat down with Uncle Ellis, he wore a t-shirt bearing his name. He looked down at it smiled and said,
"There was a time when I didn't even have clothes. Life real funny ent?"
Then he told his story.
"I remember going to school, but not really paying attention, even though I knew I was bright," he joked.
Reid, who had cancelled the interview the weekend before because of a last minute engagement, recalled never having reached further than primary school. He couldn't recall his step-mom's name and admits that his past use of illicit cocaine and subsequent medication appeared to have caused some memory loss. As a result, he said, there are whole periods of his life he simply can not recall. However, Reid recalled life on the docks as a teenager, working alongside his dad.
"I used to work on a cargo ship carrying supplies to the big vessels and them on the docks, when my leg get squeeze. It didn't break, but it was damaged and I band it up and went back to work. I was already a little bow legged and then the damage make it get more so. It doesn't hurt you know," he explained.
One thing he never stopped doing, even when the leg did hurt, was dancing.He said there was a time when he ventured out of Port-of-Spain, to Belmont, where people would ask him to dance for them. Some, he said, would place money on the ground or offer him food. Ellis said no matter what happened in his life, he has always kept two constants - never stops dancing and he is very particular about his personal hygiene.
It was a job as a handy man which would indirectly land him on the corner of Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, near KFC one day. He had so impressed his "employer" that he was offered a job and a room to stay, selling for the man in downtown Port-of- Spain.
The man lived at Pashley Street, Eastern Main Road, and Reid said the arrangement worked for a short while.He recalled assisting some of the other vendors, while he sold newspapers and soft drinks for the man. Reid appeared to be quite a favourite with the women there, as one told the T&T Guardian he made them laugh even when sales were low.
It was on this corner that people began video-taping Reid as he often danced to tunes being played by music pirates and his first videos went viral on social media. What began as simply photo and video opportunities, soon turned into a rags to riches fantasy for Reid. His particular dance style, gyrations and jerks, soon had people gathering around him wherever in Port-of-Spain he appeared. People had actually begun making dance requests, he added.
"I just like to dance and make people smile," he said with a gap-toothed grin.
Initially, Uncle Ellis danced alongside soca artiste "Yankee Boy", but things did not work out, he said. According to him, he wanted something more tangible than fame...he wanted his own home.
Now, with the intervention of technical engineer and party promoter, Dion Gomez, Reid has attained just this and soon maybe even more. Now, not only is Reid's name paired with that of local DJ and soca star, Salty (Winston Smith), but he is in demand as the "mascot" for Salty's 2016 hit
"Rock It" produced on the RR Riddum. Salty's manager and friend, Akim "5 Star" Borneo, has taken Reid under their wings.
Uncle Ellis is thus now rubbing shoulders with the whose who of local celebrities, over-nighting at the Hyatt and was on the guest list for most of the major fetes during the recently concluded Carnival season."Nothing in life comes easy and that knowledge makes it all the more sweeter when 'easy' finally happens," he said with a smile.