He's also singing a happy tune about his recent health woes (throat cancer, skin cancer). "I'm OK, I'm all right now. I pretty much look forward to coming to Honolulu because the weather's pretty much the same in Jamaica. The only thing, we have no volcano."

Yellowman is the influential toaster (rapper, deejay) who has become one of the forces of reggae in the post-Bob Marley era. He was an outcast in his youth, so his is a story of conquest and charisma against all odds.

We asked him Five Questions:

A. I think they helped a lot. When I was young in Jamaica, people stayed away from albinos. Albinos have been coming out; there are doctors, lawyers, police officers who are albino. Albinos have gained respect. But for me, those were emotional times ... that made me stronger. I grew up in an orphanage. I think (the challenges) made me strive to be one of the cornerstones of reggae music.

Q. Reggae originally was the domain of Jamaican artists; now, the genre has been adopted and accepted all over the world, with performers coming from Europe and Britain and Hawai'i. Is this good or bad for reggae?

A. That is good. Ya, mon, very good. When I go to Peru — that's a Spanish country — and even Argentina, they do good reggae. Reggae is big and it helps us all. You know our football team here is called the Reggae Boys.

Q. Through your music, you've tackled some relevant themes, condemning violence against women, airing the plight of South Africans, calling attention to AIDS, homosexual rights, even taking a stand on the war in Iraq. Are you politically active?

A. I speak through my music. I think everybody has a right to live, to take a position. It doesn't matter who you are. If you're gay or not gay, you have a right; in my older songs, I was joking around (and took a homophobic stand); I'm not like other artists who bring violence against gay people.

Q. You've often been called a reggae rebel. Does the label still fit, or not?

A. People call me all type of names, including rebel. I also have been called the King Yellowman, king of reggae dancehall music. I have been a rebel. But on my last CD, "New York," I take up the issue of war with Iraq, CNN, freedom. I am against war; you can't right wars with war.

Q. What do you enjoy most about your job? The least?

A. I enjoy singing for people, meeting different cultures, visiting different places. My job takes me all over the world. What I don't like is when somebody starts a fight while I am singing; I hate that. That's why I'll never do another concert in Haiti, where they started fighting; it was the worst concert.