INTERVIEW
Interview by : Alexandre Tonus
Pictures by : Benoit Collin
on Sunday, December 12th 2004 - 13 422 views
During our London escapade, we also went to meet Ras Shiloh, an inspired Rasta and conscious artist. The author of no fewer than four albums, this singer with the magical voice is still young. Yet he has known ups and downs before the ever-growing notoriety he is reaching today. A chance for us to take stock of a well-stocked career, but also to bring up his mentor Garnett Silk, whose worthy successor he is seen as. Garnett Silk, whose 10th death anniversary had been marked only a few days earlier; already.
Reggaefrance / Shiloh, thank you for taking a little time to talk with us, it's a real pleasure for me.
Ras Shiloh / It's a pleasure for me too, my brother.
First of all, can you introduce yourself to the French audience, tell them who you are and where you come from?
It's Ras Shiloh. Ras Shiloh is a youth who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I was making music from a very young age. It all started in a basement in Brooklyn, New York, with a sound system called Ballis, Ballis International. Artists like Tenor Saw, Nitty Gritty, King Kong, all these artists put me on stage while I was still young. Professionally, I've been doing this for about 10 years now.
You started out affiliated with the Bobo Ashanti movement, but yesterday you spoke of the unity of the Rastas, denouncing division...
I no longer see myself as a Bobo. I am a Rastaman. I know that nyabinghi was at the origin and that order can never be changed, it's the heartbeat. I also know that our Father has many mansions; which means that all of us, the twelve tribes, the Bobos, the Binghis, the Orthodox, we are all one family. For Haile Selassie the First, we are one family. So Ras Shiloh goes into all the houses, I sing in all the houses.
Your first project, released in 1997, was called “Ras Shiloh And Idrens Chant”, with Knotty B. and Ras Shaka; can you tell us about that experience? What did it bring to your career?
“Ras Shiloh And Idrens Chant”, yes, for Melchezidek Music. It was a special vibration, because Knotty B. and Ras Shaka were there from the start. They helped this vibration to be what it is today. I learned so much hanging out with these rastamen. Shiloh is not a name I gave myself, it was given to me by two elder rastamen. Ras Shaka was one of them. According to the Septuagint version of the Bible, Shiloh will come and gather the people. So I consider that I am here to gather the people and let them know that repatriation is essential.
Your second project, the following year, called “Babylon You Doom”, was something of a breakthrough album for you. How did you experience the success this album brought?
“Babylon You Doom” is a great album. It's just that the distribution wasn't efficient enough. But the tunes, Travel lite, Aluta continua, Slavery, Babylon you doom, all these tunes, people love them. I am so sorry I didn't sing them last night, but that's because of the time and things like that. Rasta doesn't watch the clock, because Jah is the hour and the hour is Jah. “Babylon You Doom” is a powerful album and that's what I would like people to know. It upholds virtue, and there's too much nonsense coming out these days, it has to stop. We need love, unity, and those are the only goal and the only destiny for all of us.
Can you tell us about Shiloh B., the label that produced this album?
That was after the Melchezidek vibrations, because Melchezidek is the highest order. There is nothing higher than Melchezidek. But after that, one of my brothers, Ras Shaka, went to prison and things started to turn out differently. Knotty B. and I joined forces and founded
Is it still active today?
It's still active, but right now I have a brand new label, which I'm setting up at the moment, Black Survivors Music. It's not only about Shiloh, it's bigger than Shiloh. I'm setting up a brand new label, Black Survivors Music, so soon people will be able to get good sound thanks to this label. And then, I have a brand new album with Bobby Digital that should be out soon, so we'll have to talk again. I have four albums in the racks, so people are supporting me.
Your third album, “Listen Well”, contains a few hip-hop experiments; was it your Brooklyn roots that motivated you to try this kind of experiment?
I was in Manhattan, at Priority Records. Myself with Smith & Wesson and my cousin Twenty Ranks, big up wherever I am. He's the one who brought us together and said to me: “Man, we're going to write something about life.” So we put out the song What's the meaning of life. We wrote the songs here and there, we just collaborated and we did it. Well, the Almighty did it, because it's bigger than us.
And what experience do you keep of that album today?
The whole thing was an experience, but there is this song on the album called Sound of silence. She couldn't take my sound of silence, she couldn't take my heart to be broken. At that time, I was going through certain things and I wrote this song. I big up Knotty B., wherever I am, because Knotty B. and I wrote a bunch of songs together.
Finally, in 2002, you released “From rasta To You”. It was your first record for a major, VP Records.
I made it for Penthouse, for Donovan Germain, but he gave it to VP to distribute.
On this album, you re-released two songs from “Babylon You Doom”, Are you satisfied and Child of a slave...
What happened is that these two songs, Are you satisfied and Child of a slave, hadn't got what they deserved. Personally, I didn't want these two songs to reappear on the album, but Donovan Germain said to me: “Man, these two songs didn't get enough justice.” So we put them back on the album, so that people would know where Ras Shiloh comes from. I have never made “shotta music”, I have never dabbled in that. Since I've been here, it's always been with the Almighty. He always blesses us with words, sounds and powers. “From Rasta To You” follows that path. And if you want to know, on each of my albums, I try to cover a song. On “Babylon You Doom”, I covered A change is gonna come by Sam Cooke, on “Listen Well”, I cover The good Lord by the Abyssinians and on “From Rasta To You”, I cover I love you more that I can say. I'm just trying to keep the vibration going... On “Listen Well”, I also cover Tainted love
Before “From Rasta To You”, between “Listen Well” and “From Rasta To You”, there seems to have been a break in your career?
A gap. That gap - we should only speak of good things - but in that gap, I was going through certain things. People wanted to control me. People wanted to make me sign and lock me in. And it's as if they had wanted to trick me from the early days. I don't want to talk too much about it, but I know that from everything, you draw experience, that it's for a reason. It opened my eyes and showed me who was with me and who was against me. That's the way of the world. During those troubled times, I was still making music, but since it wasn't for certain people, it didn't get where it should have. I just want to let the world know that Ras Shiloh is alive and well. I'm here. Because life is the most precious thing, no matter what anyone tries to do. As long as you're alive, things will always end up getting better.
On this album too, on “From Rasta To You”, you do a duet with Garnett. What does that mean to you?
It means everything to me, because Garnett is a great strength to me. Garnett is my favourite singer, as you must know. No other singer in this world. I grew up with Sam Cooke, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, that kind of artist. Then I got into reggae, Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, I listened to all the foundations. But when I heard Garnett, and when I met Garnett - because I knew Garnett personally too - from Garnett on, the others meant nothing to me anymore. There was nobody like Garnett for me. As you can see, I never keep him far from my heart. He lives through me.
So you're particularly proud of the comparison people make between you?
Yes. When people tell me that I sound like Garnett Silk, I'm really happy. Because Garnett Silk, I know what he was fighting for, I know what kind of person he was. A person that virtuous can never die. He must return.
You sound like him more than his own brothers...
One thing I know, King Selassie I is the Almighty. He knows what he's doing. If it weren't for the Almighty, I couldn't sound the way I sound. He says that if you kill one of his soldiers, he will raise a thousand more. So I am just one of those he raised at this time, to carry on the work.
What are your plans, apart from the album with Digital B.?
Right now, I want to build my studio, I want to start scouting new talent. I would like to start finding new talent and I would like to bring them out. I'm not coming to steal from anybody. I just want to show people what they're doing, because I'm an artist and I know what it is to be underestimated. So when I take a youth under my wing, I'll do it to straighten him out and show him the right way.
Do you intend to build it in Jamaica?
Yes, because that's where I am right now, I live in Jamaica. From Jamaica to Africa. I love the United States just as much, because my mother, my sister and my brothers are there, so I always have to make a trip over there. One day, in the East, in Ethiopia, that's how it has to be, but until that day, it's Jamaica.
To finish, do you have a particular message for the French audience? Will we see you in France soon?
I really hope so, because I want to big up the whole French audience and thank you guys for supporting real music. Because over there, you know what real music is. Ras Shiloh just wants to say big up to all of France and all of Europe, because they help keep this thing where it is and as it is. Because in other parts of the world, they think everything is about “jump up music”. This is my first time in England and one thing I know - I have never played in France yet, but I can't wait - is that I big up all of Europe. Selassie I lives and rules over all.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, my brother. Selassie I the First.
Remerciements : Olivia
|
|
© 1999-2026
RSS
