Damian Marvin Walters was born in 1979 in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He is known to his fans as Jah Bami meaning ‘Jah Take Me’, an influential

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Comed ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

song writer A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

. His musical style is a mix between

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...

pulling influence from hip-hop and R&B. Jah Bami's sound and personality has taken him around the world and back as a host for Viacom's,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Caribbean network MTV Tempo.

Early years

His musical life began at the age of six, as the lead choirboy in his family's church. As a youth the

steel drum The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descripti ...

played a major role in his musical upbringing, as he watched his fathers group tour Trinidad as the first steelpan. Jah Bami grew up listening to entertainers such as

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

, Cameo and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. He recalls watching his father DJ at clubs in Trinidad and seeing him perform on the microphone. In his teens he gained recognition for his talents on the steel drum teaching himself how to play by ear. He mastered instruments including the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, which later helped him organize full orchestra ensembles. At age 17 he earned himself a music scholarship at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

where he led his school to become school Panorama Champions. Jah Bami also played with the “Exodus Steel Orchestra” which was National Panorama Champions four years in a row. He spent most of his youth living between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Trinidad visiting his father, who had moved to the States. In 2000 he made his official move to New York, making

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

his home. During his time in New York he began to embrace

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of ...

and a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese label Thello Entertainment recognized his sound and performance style.

Musical career

Thello Entertainment invited him to join them on a yearlong Japanese tour alongside other reggae stars including

Wayne Wonder Von Wayne Charles (born 26 July 1972), better known by his stage name Wayne Wonder, is a Jamaican reggae artist. While his early recordings were dancehall and reggae, he later moved towards hip hop and rap. His most popular single is the 2003 ...

and

Ky-Mani Marley Ky-Mani Marley (born 26 February 1976) is a Jamaican singer and musician. His name is of East African origin, and means "Adventurous Traveler". He is the only child of Bob Marley with Anita Belnavis, a Jamaican table tennis champion. In 2001 ...

(son of

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

). It was during his time in

that his welcome embrace by the Japanese spawned a style they deemed ‘Mutant Chant’ for his evolving sound. His Japanese fans created his name Jah Bami. Upon his return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Jah Bami was invited to the leading radio station in New York ‘Hott 97�

and interviewed by Massive B, a world-renowned radio host and station producer Bobby Konder. Jah Bami is known for his relationship with reggae Rastafarian lifestyle apparel brand "Color Heritage

as the official face and spokesman for the company. He continues to grow his success, producing chart-topping hits in the

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Jah Bami has recorded and shared the stage with industry legends including

Wu Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affili ...

, Norris Man and

Damian Marley Damian Robert Nesta "Jr. Gong" Marley (born 21 July 1978) is a Jamaican DJ, singer, lyricist and rapper. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards. Early life, education and family Damian Marley is the youngest son of reggae musician Bob Marle ...

References

External links

Jah Bami
on Myspace *
"St.Lucia Star" article about Campari Poster Girl Contest

"Village Voice" article about Jah Bami at S.O.B New York

"St. Lucia Star" article about Jah Bami
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bami, Jah Trinidad and Tobago reggae musicians Living people 1979 births Trinidad and Tobago male musicians 21st-century male musicians