What starts as a freezing day on a Quebec railway construction site quickly melts into one of the hottest viral moments of 2025. Fitzroy “Welder” Donald, a Jamaican welder and recording artist now living in Canada, had no idea his casual work banter would set social media—and now the airwaves—on fire.
It all kicked off mid-shift, in the biting -21°C cold, where banter is the norm among the rugged crew of railway workers. These workers power through the harshest conditions, and sharp-tongued teasing is just another way to stay warm and sane.
But on this particular day, things took a spicy turn when supervisor Greg Lee jokingly called out to Welder with a casual, “Hey buddy!”—a seemingly harmless greeting in Canadian culture. Unbeknownst to him, in Jamaican slang, the word “buddy” carries a very different meaning. Welder, already recording on his phone for fun, didn’t let it slide.
“DON’T CALL ME NO BUDDY!” he shot back, in full Patois fury. Greg doubled down with a cheeky “Move yuh Bombocloth!”—and just like that, the camera caught lightning in a bottle. The video hit TikTok, and within hours it was being shared, stitched, and memed by fans around the world. But the internet wasn’t done with Welder yet.
By that evening, Greek Records, a music label based in New York, called him up. They wanted the audio for a track. Welder quickly sent over a sample from the recorded clip, and within three days, the full track was mixed, mastered, and released.
The result? A dancehall banger titled “Don’t Call Me No Buddy”—a bad man anthem that’s now dominating underground playlists from Kingston to Toronto. DJs like DJ Kenny and the USA’s CD Banging have already stamped it onto their latest mixtapes, alongside some of the biggest names in dancehall.
Social media has dubbed it “the realest viral rise of 2025,” with fans praising the authenticity, raw humor, and cultural crossover embedded in the track. Beyond the laughs, it’s also sparked conversations about language, cultural context, and the Caribbean diaspora’s influence on pop culture abroad.
Fitzroy “Welder” Donald is no stranger to the spotlight. Before welding in Canada, he was a producer and on-air presenter at CVM Television in Jamaica and worked with Caribbean World Channel. Since migrating to Canada in 2021, he’s been blending his artistic roots with his hardworking hustle—and now, it’s paying off in ways no one could have predicted.
What started as a cold-day joke turned into a blazing hit—and if this moment is any sign, we haven’t heard the last from Welder.
