Ras-I Remains Connected To The Root Of Reggae As He Completes New Album

As Reggae artist Ras-I continues work on his third studio album, he says his steady success is attributed to sticking to the root of the genre.

“Mi always a water di root enuh,” he told DancehallMag, “without the root, yuh cyaa bear no fruit. Mi always just mek sure seh if it’s an uptempo chune, there’s at least a baseline that has some Reggae swing in it or horns. There’s always elements of Reggae music in my sound, no matter what it is.”

Not much detail was provided about the album, which is titled Heart of Love.  The project will come after his sophomore album Kingman, which was released in 2022. 

According to Ras-I whose given name is Immanuel Kerr, Kingman contributed significantly to the notoriety he now has.

“It was a huge success because it opened many doors for me. It opened a whole lot of eyes and ears. It set the career on a very nice trajectory, especially with songs like Kingman Ting and Somewhere Wonderful which are the two top songs off of the album. Whole heap a bookings and dem ting deh offa those songs,” he said.

Ras-I is a past student of Wolmer’s High School and the University of Technology, Jamaica where he did a brief stint. He also spent one year at Excelsior High School. 

Starting out as a beat maker for quite a few established labels approximately 14 years ago, Ras –I gradually moved to starting his own label, Ras-I Musique, as a producer,  and continues to share his love for reggae music through his voice.

From his standpoint, Reggae has retained its authenticity, despite what some may believe to be a ‘watered down’ version of the sound.

“Every generation has been brought up differently, so, the difference in influence is still there. But, the roof of the music is still alive. If dem look dem find it. Reggae music is still alive, but it’s what’s been brought to the people that’s pushing the music. Sometimes you have to search for the food that you want,” Ras-I added.

The entertainer hopes to collaborate with Ms Lauryn Hill someday.