The widely-acclaimed Jamaican film and its equally hailed soundtrack are currently celebrating their 50th anniversaries.

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For Radio Essentials’ newest episode of Apple Music hits, host Estelle was joined by Famend’s reggae pioneer Jimmy Cliff, who discussed more of what’s to come; The accompanying song, film and soundtrack of the 50th anniversary.

During the interview, which you can pay full attention to here, Cliff told Apple Music about the origins of the project, the resilience of reggae music, the stories of notable songs “many rivers to find,” “You can get it if I really need to,” and more.

He began by telling Apple Music about the origin of The Harder They Come film.

“At the time, I resided in the UK, and the director, Perry Henzell, brought the script over to me and said he would like me to play in his film”, he revealed. “So, we ran a scene, and he was very happy that he had found the person to do his film after all these years walking around with it.”

“Well, it took a few things to make me say yeah because at the time, I was doing very well in Europe. I had hit records there. I was making good money. Well, one of the main things that made me agree to say yeah was the director said to me, “You know, Jimmy, I think you’re a better actor than singer.” And my eyes popped open because I’ve always said that to myself, and nobody ever read my mind to say that. So, that really closed the deal for me.”

However, the sing was extremely surprised by the success of The Harder They Come film.

“We were all there,” he said. “Because it is the first Jamaican film, and we all entered it, as if we were diving into a void, empty-handed. However, we were all convinced that it can be a success.

Later in the interview, Cliff explained his idea about the performance of his old hits from the film and added “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “Many Rivers To Cross. “

“Because they want it, I give it”, he said. “Where there’s a demand, you have to supply. That’s what it is. That’s the motivation for doing it night after night. Part of reggae music is not only the music, the rhythm and all of that. The language, it was a new sound to people’s ear. So yeah, all of that is good.”

Listen to Jimmy Cliff’s on Apple Music and Spotify.