About Ras Abijah
Hometown
Kingston, Jamaica
Born
June 6, 1973
Genre
Reggae
b. Andrew Smith, 6 June 1973, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Smith was raised in a musical environment; his father Winston was a drummer in Count Ossie’s Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari. As a child Andrew learnt to play the conga drum and made his stage debut at the age of six when he performed alongside his father’s band. Smith began performing under the moniker Quenchers and recorded background vocals for a few DJs which inspired his desire for a career in music. Although coming from a Rastafarian background Smith was drawn towards Christianity and following his conversion in 1994 he honed his musical skills in the church. It was around this time that he called himself Abijah, which is Hebrew for ‘my father is Jehovah’. Under this new alias he recorded his debut ‘Revelation’ with Mikey Bennett. The song with its infectious chorus, ‘Oh this will be a Revelation, oh this will be war and frustration’ remained in the chart for 10 months. The success of the song led to work on Smith’s unreleased debut album. Following a successful run of hits, notably those with the Exterminator crew, (‘Love You’ and ‘Walk Free’) and the Youngblood collective, (‘Live’), Smith was invited to perform at numerous Jamaican reggae festivals. His performances at Sumfest 2001 and Rebel Salute 2002 were met with critical acclaim, which led to appearances at international events. A particularly notable appearance at the Annual Sierra Nevada World Music Festival established his name in the USA and beyond. With his roots firmly grounded in conscientious reggae, Smith transformed his faith and sense of purpose into soothing melodies and mindful lyricism that resulted in cult status among the world music and roots and culture supporters. His release of ‘Press On’ led to further acclaim and a tour of the Far East alongside the up-and-coming producer DJ Crush.
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