Correspondence from the Continent: Jah9 on finding fulfillment amid the fiasco
Music is never disembodied from Jamaican culture and lifestyle. Since the onset of what we know as Jamaican life, it has been used for things like education, passing coded messages, commentary, and sometimes informal reporting. After the country’s independence in 1962, when political structures were being erected, Jamaican music began to breathe it’s first breath. While political structures were naturally aligned to policies, philosophies, sometimes even religion, music as an art form, likely due to its extremely democratic nature, has always been about people politics. The great advantage of music, not that it can be properly compared to politics, is its fluidity. It became a way for the now independent citizens of Jamaica to say what they wanted, how they wanted it said(usually in their own language and without censorship), through the many elected minstrels that rose to calling. As with all industries, there are business facets that support the art form, allowing it to thrive. However, no matter how lucrative the industry becomes, most of the power in music still rests with the people. As much as people rely on music and art, musicians or creators rely on people a lot more.
Jamaican music has such a high output pace in general, that whether or not people “cancel” an artist, they usually move on to the next new one within a few months. Move on, is by no means definitive. It doesn’t mean the older artist is discarded for good, but what it does indicate is that the pacing of the music creates a spotlight or two, that has a time limit. Within this time limit, the attention directed at the artist is high, and they have until that limit is reached, to break out into their own. This usually entails diversifying, gaining more exposure, and creating a lasting profile that will give the artist a guaranteed spot in the library, a listen on every release, or a purchase on every piece of merch or event ticket. The Jamaican audiences can be fickle but given the right motivation at the right time, they are also loyal to a fault. It is perhaps this essentially democratic nature of the artform which gives it this fluidity, because even with the risk of failure, comes the possibility of a reward that is even greater.
Jah9, is an agent of Jamaican music, its democracy and its people politics. Awarded, and achieved wherever she chooses to set down roots, one cannot help but notice that she has always been involved in the science and politics of people, in one way or another. From her days at UWI, her long awaited return there this past february with a lecture series, her clandestine exploits at some of the country’s biggest corporate companies, and even her certification as a yogi, it’s evident 9 relishes being of service in areas that heavily involve the human element. Something that’s hard wired into her music as well. Early may 2019, we were two albums deep into her discography, when the official music video for her first single Heaven from her latest album hit youtube. With the promise of the new album and singles like Maat(Each Man), and Highly(Get To Me) in between, Note To Self shook the music world when it finally dropped on March 13th. This marked her second time releasing an album in Kenya, which had become much like another home to her now. Set for a live celebration of her album the following day in Ethiopia, 9 was due to make her way to the UK for another later that month, when word reached her of the Covid-19 outbreak there. She decided to bunker down in Ethiopia, rather than risk being trapped in transit or being refused entry into other countries while trying to return home. Now situated in Tanzania for what will make 9 plus weeks on the continent, Jah9 is in good spirits when we get on the phone for this interview. Here, we have a candid conversation about her new album, life in Africa, creativity and the state of things.
This is your third studio album, some people would describe your music as personal, but what makes this album different in that regard? Is it a specific type of personal for you or is it just delving deeper into the person?
“The latter.”
What’s your favorite part of the creative process?“I don’t really have a favorite part. It depends. I have a least favorite part.” Which is?“My least favorite part is probably feedback from non creatives who I have to deal with in the industry. But my favorite part is probably, at different times, so like-”It changes?“It does, and it depends. So there are times when I really enjoy creating and writing in a space of solitude. I don’t really have a clique or a group of people that I’m vibing with; it’s usually a very private process. I like that part of it, but I also like when I’m creating with other people, which I seldom have that opportunity.So I do like creating because it is a meditative thing for me. I really go inside to find what it is I want to say. Hearing the words in my head, putting it on paper and hearing sounds, practicing and then revamping it. I really enjoy that part. I like being able to bring that forward now to other creatives when I’m creating the music. There are different ways that I create. There are times when I’m creating from a spiritual, visual meditative space, and times when I’m creating with my brain. So it’s different types of songs too that come out different kinds of ways. For those who are really paying attention you can always tell which ones are more cerebral and which ones are more meditative.”The album speaks to a lot of feelings and themes like isolation, self study, things that are at a peak right now for people all around the world, and there are many who feel this album arrived at the perfect time. Do you feel it was divine timing, or is the music just timeless enough where it fits even with a disaster?“I think both of those things. It is always a matter of divine timing because I am inspired in a way where sometimes things will feel very urgent to me. Then because of my personality I don’t really follow industry protocols, and this is probably why the people at like my label who deal with the commercial aspect of music, they will struggle with me here. Because I am really going off what I’m inspired to do, or what is the recurring thing in my mind or in my dream, or this is the urgent thing. I may not even feel compelled to explain why but they just have to deal with the songs I have. I’m not gonna do a new song because we ask her to. So it really is this is just happening, because I create my music from a timeless place. You won’t hear trending things in my songs that people won’t understand what that means. I’m not writing from that space, I’m writing from a space where I want it to be clear. So clear that even if it seems like it’s too deep, but all it really requires is people just slowing things down to listen and usually people don’t have the time to do that. But this quote on quote disaster has given people the time to pace their listening. So more people feel like they understand what I’m saying now. I did kinda make an effort with this album to be more relatable, in terms of the themes. But it also depends on where you are, if you can sit and listen remember listening is an active process.”You’ve been to the continent before? How many times and which places did you visit?“I’ve been to the continent four times. First time was to South Africa.Roughly a decade ago.”What year?“I don’t even remember, roughly a decade ago.I went as a poet I didn’t even go as a singer. It was an invitation to a spoken word event. So there was that time and then my second time was in Kenya, I went there again on my third trip and then I came back this year for the release of the album, to Ethiopia and now in Tanzania.” Repatriation is a very big part of the Rastafari message, but you seem to take an anti-fantasy approach to it. How do you think mindset affects the ability to manifest something like that? In what ways do you feel romanticizing the return, can prove more harmful than helpful?“We have to understand what manifestation means, it is an active thing. So there is a process you can follow to manifest things on the earth. It has to do with how your mind works, what you can visualize, what you are able to plan. Repatriation is a mental process too, and that is where it started for me, so I live in a world where I am african. So first thing I am african, that’s what Rastafari means to me.; that I am African. This is why if I were to look for a leader it would be the African king, his imperial Majesty Haile Selassie. His hopes and dreams for this space now, is where I have lived for the past- even before I came into rastafari because of my parents. They made Africa very attractive to me and so even in learning about Africa later on, there has always been a want to know , to come and see for myself. As I got older and started hearing about the importance of things like home ownership and investments, I was just looking and thinking; these are things I really will require anywhere in the world I am. So if I am thinking about Africa, I have to think about the places in Africa where I can do these things. So in my mind romanticizing means that you are maybe thinking about your life in a practical way but when you think about Africa, you think about it in an impractical way. Like how are your bills going to be paid, where you will live, all of that. You’re not looking at Africa in that way, and that’s where it can become harmful as well. Because you are not doing the practical thing, it’s like you have a lover and the only thing you think about is how beautiful they are, but you’re not thinking about how good they will be? How will they live? Do they leave the toilet seat up? The practical applications. Most people, even intelligent people romanticize the idea as if one day something is going to magically happen that will allow them to go. They will be like “I don’t have enough money but one day I want to go to Africa, but it’s when they do come that it really hits home. They get a culture shock because they don’t have any idea what it means to be here. What we need to see is people saving up a little money and take a trip. See some different places, don’t think that one day you’re gonna just save up enough money to leave and never come back. That’s a ridiculous idea.” Describe your journey to Africa and your stay there so far.
“So I left Jamaica, transited through New York and ended up in Kenya. In Kenya, I did a series of press events, we did a series of creative events as well. The first one was like a Garden party where some young creatives from Kenya were invited to just come and have an evening together. We set up a space where we did some yoga. I got to see and meet some really talented people, along with some industry players. It was a very nice intimate setting. I had such a great experience that I invited some of the young artists at the party to come and be apart of my live show that I had later on in Kenya. I worked with a Kenyan band which was challenging, but interesting. I got to an opportunity to do some really interesting interviews during that time as well, which was all facilitated by Anbessa productions, which is Black Lion international, or brother Malafi. He was able to facilitate a very productive trodd to Kenya. After that party and the live show and a very successful trip, I went forward to Lamu Yoga Festival. Which was with Away To Africa, the trip that initiated my whole vision of- let me do this again. Last Year I launched my album in Kenya and it was a great vibe as well so I thought, I could prepare for around that time. But the album got pushed back which actually facilitated me being able to launch it in Africa. So while I was there for press and doing other creative endeavors, I was also apart of the Away To Africa retreat. Which was the first in many to come, not necessarily always with Away to Africa, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do, retreats around the world. So being able to do that and connecting with brother Malafi who facilitates the Away To Africa Tours in Kenya, made it clear how easy it is to make a way for other people. Especially people from the diaspora.
So After I left Kenya, I went to Lamu, which is really just off the coast of Kenya. That was an amazing experience, at the Lamu Yoga festival, which gave me an opportunity again to connect with the international yoga community. I was able to make a connection with those responsible for the festival to solidify future efforts to make a way for others to be able to be there. Very good connections were made in Lamu.
After Lamu I went to Ethiopia, where we ended up launching the album. We did a good press run, a conference the day after I arrived. We had quite a few press engagements with Team Lubanja and Venture Addis. But that team worked to put together a nice set of events, and then I was able to host a Yoga on Dub there as well, and that was very good because people came out right about the time when Corona was just about to make it’s appearance. People still came out, so by the time it was time for actual show, Corona had hit the world. But the people still came out, we had a full house! If it wasn’t for the Corona thing it would have probably been even more packed than the capacity. So that was really good and then we did interviews as well. I was able to talk about the issues of Africa, women’s rights, marijuana; things that are potentially controversial in that space but because I am from outside I could speak very freely. I think we made a good impact in that space, we then left very quickly because of what was happening there.
I was supposed to go to the UK, to do a series of press events, yoga on dub and some other things but at that time we heard that Corona had hit the UK hard. So the question was, do I go back to Kenya or do I try to get to Jamaica. I started to realize that world travel had become tense at the time and I really didn’t want to become trapped. I wasn’t feeling very strong at that time so I really thought it best to just go across to Tanzania on Malafi’s recommendation. It just turned out that my road manager, has family here in Tanzania, which made it very easy to make the transition here in Tanzania. We made a connection with the Jamaican consulate here in Jamaica and they were able to facilitate us coming across and being here up to this point.
Even in coming here, not knowing what it is we would be doing, I spent most of the past few weeks just acclimating, wrapping my mind around the new realities of the world. I was able to make some very good connections here. One of them is with a creative community of Rastafari – Wasili Asilia is the name of one of the bredrin’s company. He’s started off doing simple craft and now he has one of the most significant tanzanian shoe and fabric manufacturing companies. He’s a really good example of just industry and determination coming to full bloom. You will see some of our collaborations online like on my IG.
There are more collaborations to come, we’re going to do a special line of Jah9 merch made in Africa. I also made another good connection with another company called Wanene TV, who did the production for my live performance of Note To Self. The only thing we have a problem with here in Tanzania is the internet and that is something we are constantly working on, but I’m not complaining because poor internet means low radiation levels. So we making it work because they have a real state of the art studio space, and everyone there is very welcoming. So the timing feels divine and Tanzania is one of the places where the movement isn’t very restricted, but this is the most freedom I would probably be able to get anywhere in the world right now.”
Do you feel there’s a future for creatives in Africa, even amid this crisis?“Once travel is no longer a restriction, definitely. I would encourage it. I think the only way we’re going to bridge the gap between romanticized ideas of Africa, is by facilitating that.”Is there anything you’ve been working on or plans you have while in Tanzania that you are able to share?“We’re making plans for things that people can be a part of, like tours and retreats across, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania as early as October/November/December into early next year. The idea is to create a model that I can replicate in West Africa, which I was supposed to visit last year. A whole lot of collaborations with the creative communities here, Africa is so welcoming. There’s people like Wanene TV who I’ve linked with VP Records to handle production for my upcoming acoustic livestream and they’re excited to work with an international artist because they also want content for their station. Africa is so fruitful and vast, there is so much to do and so much freedom. I’m really just taking my time and being purposeful about how I want to move around the continent right now.”
