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Photos coutesy of Reggaephotos.de www.reggaephotos.de Pictures taken during Iba's performance in Uebersee, Germany 08/25/2006 @ Chiemsee Reggae Summer |
Below is the transcript of an "Inna-View" conducted between VIROOTS.COM and Ras Iba in early September 2006. . |
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 Where do you hail from in the VI? What was life like growing up there? I am from St. Croix, growing up in St. Croix was bless, I was just like any other little boy growing up on a tropical island in that time. Plenty beach time, nuff bike riding, nuff running through the bushes, picking genip, mangos, jojo,etc. I was doing all the things any little Crucian boy would have want to be doing or could afford to do in those days. It was Bless. How did you begin your musical and spiritual journey within Rastafari? Well, I would have to say it began when I started listening to Rastafarian music coming out of Jamaica, and England, like Bob Marley & the Wailers, Third World, Steel Pulse, Aswad, Jacob Miller, Burning Spear, etc. Their message had such an impact on I man, that it motivated I to want to find out why these Rastaman was calling the name Rastafari. The more I learned about Rastafari and the struggle of my people, I knew that Rastafari was the way for me. Since music was already part of my life it was only natural that I started to sing about what I believed in. What was your experience with the Front Line band in St. Croix like? It was blessed, working with Front Line band really helped to build my confidence as a singer. Those guys were really organized, and prepared; they had all the equipment a band would need to put on a show anywhere, and at anytime. I can remember doing shows with these man on the beach (Cramer's park,) in town in the alley of Caravelle arcade, in Sunny Isle - they would just pull up in their van, set up everything and just start jamming, getting permission first of course. I had a wonderful experience with them man, Jah Know. How did you link up with the Mt. Nebo family? Well, Andy Llanos of Bambu Station is my cousin, who is also a part of Mt Nebo Records. He called me around the year 2000, and ask me if I was interested in recording some tracks on a various artists album, which eventually became talking Roots Volume 1. I said yes, and that started the fire which is still burning today with I and the Mt. Nebo family. Since then we have released my debut album "Jah Lion (Children of the Nile)" (2003) and now my sophomore album "Many Lives". What is the significance of the title of your new album, "Many Lives"? I wanted to continue to remind the world about what our African ancestors went through during the time of slavery, and to tell the world that it's going to take at least another four hundred years for us to fully heal from those wounds. How does this new album compare with the first release, "Jah Lion: Children of the Nile"? Well, this album for one has more energy. I also had an opportunity to perform most of the songs live before recording them in the studio. I also had more studio experience and confidence as a recording artist. Do you have a favorite song or songs off of this new album? Why? "Strongest Woman" is one of my favorite songs on this album because it's a song livicated to my mother, who has been my number 1 fan forever, and has encouraged, and supported me from the beginning of my musical journey. "Save the World" is also one of my favorites because of the question I'm asking our human family "what you gonna do to help save the world" And Jah know the world is in need of saving. Your combination with Ijah Menelik on the song "Afrika" is intense how did that combination and song come about? That combination came about because of a tour that I did with Ijah Menelik on the West coast, Bambu Station's Talking Roots tour. During that tour, Ijah and myself realized that we had good chemistry and we decided that it would be blessed to do a song together. So while writing "Afrika," I decided that this would be a blessed tune to collaborate with Ijah, so we discussed it and he agreed. The rest is history. What was the experience of the recent Bambu Station-Iba European tour like? Well, that tour was really blessed. We made some really good connections. We performed at some of Europe's major Reggae festivals, such as Ja Sound European festival in France, Chiemsee Reggae festival in Germany, Hamm Reggae festival also in Germany, to audiences ranging between 5000-15,000 people at a time. We also did many shows in Holland and Belgium. This tour, I feel, has been significant in opening doors for VI Roots Reggae music because in a lot of places, we were the first VI artists to ever perform there. I'm proud to say we were well received, and the people were very impressed, including the promoters of all shows. Why do you choose to use music as your chosen mode of expression and communication rather than, say, writing or some other art form? Well, I choose music because music has always been a part of my life. Being the son of a musician, and growing up in that environment, I naturally used music as my mode of expression. So, it was never really a question as to how I wanted to express myself. Why do you think VI reggae music is having such a strong impact on people around the world? Well, I think it's because the majority of VI artists are sending a positive message through Roots Reggae music. Just like back in the days of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Burning Spear, Jacob Miller, etc., when their message and music first came on the scene it was so powerful that it grabbed the world's attention. Not to take anything away from the Reggae music coming out of Jamaica today, but I think that it is the same thing happening in the Virgin Islands. It's like, right now, the VI music is blazing the fire of conscious Roots Reggae music bringing the world back to that spirit of those Roots Reggae legends of that era. What kind of future works or touring can people look out for from Ras Iba? We're planning some promotional tours for this album in the near future. Check out our websites for the details as to when and where (rasibamusic.com & mtneborecords.com) Currently, I have started to work on my third album which I hope to have released in early 2008. What is one of the most important things Rastafari has taught you that you would like to share with the people? One of the most important things that Rastafari has taught me that I would like to share with the people is, no matter what your race, religion or creed, we have to overstand that we are all a part of the human family, and we have to learn to share this planet because God is within each and every one of us. We must also overstand that we are all connected in this one life, so if you harm someone, you are harming yourself... if you destroy the earth, you're destroying yourself, because everything we do affects everyone and everything... Jah Bless. |
JAH LION children of the nile  $14.50 (incl. shipping for US orders) 1.Rough Times 2.Jah Lion (Children of the Nile)3.No Apology4.Dying Breed (feat. Sagenyah)5.What's It Gonna Take?6.O, Jah7.Inity8.Work to Do9.My Empress10.Didn't I Tell You?11. African Queen12.It's Too Late Dub (feat. Tuff Lion)13.Chant
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