Dancehall Artiste Rumblood Faces Felony Gun Charges In Los Angeles

A night of drunken abandon has caused Ranaldo Evans, better known as Rumblood and member of Ward 21, to end up with felony charges in Los Angeles. The Dancehall artiste and producer described to the Star Magazine how his Friday evening went from one of drinks and fun to him waking up in a jail cell the next morning.

He was arrested on November 29 by police of the 77th Street Community Police Station because a vehicle he was a passenger in was pulled over and searched and illegal firearms were discovered.

“As I reach into the vehicle, all I can remember is seeing bare lights a flash and police around it. But because I was intoxicated, having been drinking champagne for most of the night, I only realised what happened when I wake up in jail,” Rum Blood told THE STAR.

“Me only hear dem find guns in the car. I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that they have me on felony charges because of the weapons found,” he continued.

“The party I was leaving that morning, Night of the Star, is one that I have hosted for the past three stagings; of course persons are speculating that it may be a set-up or whatever,” he said.

Following the charges he was released on US$35,000 bail. He is expected to be arraigned on Friday, December 27.

Rumblood burst on to the international scene this year and was featured on an episode of VH1’s Love and Hip Hop series.

“I can only continue to keep positive and give God thanks because things could have happened differently. And I am still very much focused on my music career and just don’t want anything to get in the way of its progress,” he said.

Ward 21 are a group of dancehall musicians and producers from Kingston, Jamaica, who chose their name based on the psychiatric ward at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston. The group produced hit dancehall riddims like “Badda badda”, “Da Joint”, “Bellyas”, and “Volume” as well as hit singles like “Haters” and “Judgement Day”.

They formed in the late 1990s and originally had four members — Kunley McCarthy, Andre “Suku” Gray, Mark “Meandawg” Henry, and Ranaldo “Rumblood” Evans. They’ve been all over the world and have played shows in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.