Muhamad Egar known by his stage name Ras Muhamad (born October 29, 1982) is an Indonesian

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 ...

singer. He took his stage name while a student in

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 ...

, United States.

Early life and education

Muhamad Egar was born on October 29, 1982, in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, to Rivai and Wening Esthyprobo. His mother moved to the United States as an Indonesian economic diplomat shortly after Muhamed graduated from Harapan Ibu Pondok Indah. He studied at Russell Sage Junior High School while living in

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 ...

with his mother. In 1999, he attended

Forest Hill High School Forest Hill High School is a public high school located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It serves students from grades 9 12, and is part of the Jackson Public School District. The current principal is Torrey Hampton. Demographics A total ...

, while his mother returned to Indonesia to spend time with his youngest brother. Subsequently, Muhamad continued his studies in art at the Borough of Manhattan Community College Faculty

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

and graduated in 2005.

Career

2005-2007: ''Declaration of Truth'' and ''Reggae Ambassador''

His debut studio album ''Declaration of Truth'' was released while he was living in

. The album was launched in

. His debut album brought him some popularity in his birth country. Two years later, returning to Indonesia, Muhamad released debut studio album ''Reggae Ambassador'' on January by Equinox DMD, a company distributing music in

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. Indonesian

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

awarding him as Best Reggae Act in 2008 and earning nominations for Best Reggae Composition in Anugerah Musik Indonesia.

2009-2013: ''Next Chapter'', ''Negeri Pelangi'', ''Berjaya'' and book

His second studio album ''Next Chapter'' was released in 2009. It featured many collaboration with national and international musicians. Three years later, Muhamad released his third studio album ''Negeri Pelangi'' and the produced the first self-titled single of Indonesian reggae artist Tony Q Rastafara. A year after his third album, Muhamad published his first book, about Reggae history, vision and philosophy between

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and Indonesia. The book sold well in Indonesia and internationally. In 2012, Muhamad won an Indonesian Cutting Edge Music Award (ICEMA). In 2013, Muhamad also released his fourth studio album ''Berjaya'' and singles including “Berjaya” and “Kembali” with Endah N Rhesa. For the single “Berjaya”, Muhamad won Anugerah Musik Indonesia for 2013 Best Reggae/Ska/Dub Production Work.

2014-present: ''Salam''

Muhamad signed to Oneness Record and released his fifth studio album, entitled ''Salam'', on July 14, on which he again collaborated with international reggae musicians such as Sara Lugo, Kabaka Pyramid and Uwe Kaa. The album was successful within the reggae music industry and charted number one on the Dutch site reggae-vibes.com. In 2016, Muhamad held a concert in

America 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 ...

and a tour in

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 ...

to promote the album.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Declaration of Truths'' (2005) * ''Reggae Ambassador'' (2007) * ''Next Chapter'' (2009) * ''Negeri Pelangi'' (2012) * ''Berjaya'' (2013) * ''Salam'' (2014) * ''Bambu Keras'' (2018)

References

External links

Official TwitterBiography on Reggaeville.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhamad, Ras 1982 births Living people People from Jakarta 21st-century Indonesian male singers Anugerah Musik Indonesia winners