INTERVIEW : IBA MAHR
Interview by : Irie Nation
Pictures by : DR
le Friday, December 06th 2013 - 8 619 vues
Parmi la nouvelle génération d'artistes qui se lève en Jamaïque, Iba MaHr n'est pas le moins prometteur. Repéré par Max Romeo, qui enregistre son premier titre sur son label Charmax, son grain de voix, qui rappelle parfois Junior Kelly, et des thèmes culturels ont lancé sa carrière. Ce jeune Rasta faisait sa première tournée européenne cet été ; l'occasion de faire les présentations.
Reggaefrance / We saw you this summer on stage with Dubtonic Kru. How is your collaboration with them?
Iba MaHr / It's very nice, it's a joy. Dubtonic Kru have always been my friends, musically and outside of music. I recorded my first song with Jallanzo the guitarist of Dubtonic Kru. Doing a song together is very easy, very comfortable and to perform live is fire!
Where are you from in Jamaica?
I'm from the rural side, from Linstead, a small town in Ste Catherine parish, neighboring town is Spanish Town. As a youth I used to dance and I used to sing the songs of the 70s and the 80s. My grand father was a popular in the community and he had a sound system. I didn't get a chance to move to the sound system but most of the songs that he used to play on his sound system on vynil found themselves at the house. On Sunday he would play them on his stereogram. We used to listen to songs from Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Alton Ellis, Hugh Mundell, Bob Marley, Jacob Miller, Peter Tosh… did I say Burning Spear ? This is the kind of music that I used to listen at the time. Reggae music was a part of me at the time even though within myself I thought the school and academics was the aim. I was more focused in tertiary education at the time and then music take the hold on me, and it was all music from there.
Did you graduate or stop before?
I had to stop because of financial difficulties, and then came music. Music was waiting for me in a sense, because it wasn't really like a choice. Music just came, took a hold on me and took me away. It's just fun and joy and happiness from there. Will I wait came, Burning came, Let Jah lead the way, Great is Him… and so much other songs!
 Les gens rigolent quand je raconte ça : c'est la nourriture qui m'a plongé dans la vibe rasta. 
Who was the first person to take you in studio?
I would say Jigsy King and Max Romeo. Two big names from two different genres!
How was Max Romeo feeling about your music then?
At the time I recorded my first song with Max Romeo was called Had it and lost it, that was a song that I started the show with. I see it fits to start the show with that song because it was the first song that people recognize from me in my circle. It was very nice. Max Romeo used to say "This is the kind of song you should do, this is the kind of music that really gives you the opportunity to travel the world, positive reggae music. It was very easy for me, because this is the kind of music I grew up with.
You sing a lot of love songs too. John Holt said that it's hailing Rastafari same way. You see it that way too?
You know His Majesty speak highly about love. His Majesty had His empress. As kings and queens, we all have to come together as one, we need love to do that. So we will sing love songs. It sometimes becomes personal, because of some of my experiences and then sometimes is things that I see around, I'm inspired by the people to write these songs. You know I could sing a song burning fire, I could sing a song hailing His Majesty and I could sing a song about how much I feel about a woman because naturally that is how I feel. So I just sing about it.
Your parents were also rastafarians?
My family was more Christian oriented.
What took you to Rasta and how did they feel about it?
I think (I always say this and people laugh), I think that food was the thing that really got me into the whole Rastafarian vibe. I used to visit a brethren every day and I used to eat ital food. I started making a transition from eating meat to eating fruits and vegetables, and then the vibe just came on… naturally!
Is it hard being a rasta in Jamaica, as a youth?
No, I think as rastafarians, as youths, we all get a whole heap of ridicule and people a go push you aside fi a while, but… Inna them, people want fi understand if you serious about what you are doing. It's all about self-reliance, you know Marcus Garvey teach about that. If you ready fi make this move, you haffi be ready fi accept it in all circumstances.
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