Yasus Afari (born John Sinclair, 1962)Harris, Craig " Yasus Afari Biography" ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'', Macrovision Corporation.Dawes, Mark (2007)
Mind and Spirit – Yasus' gift to Jamaica (Pt 2)"
''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 21 April 2007. is a Jamaican dub poet.

Biography

Born in,

Saint Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica Saint Elizabeth, one of Jamaica's largest parishes, is located in the southwest of the island, in the county of Cornwall. Its capital, Black River, is located at the mouth of the Black River, the widest on the island. History Saint Elizabe ...

, Sinclair was a childhood friend of

Garnett Silk Garnett Silk (born Garnet Damion Smith; 2 April 1966 – 9 December 1994) was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, howeve ...

and collaborated with Silk on many of his best-selling recordings. Sinclair attended

St. Elizabeth Technical High School St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) is a co-educational secondary school in Santa Cruz, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica. This year 2021 marks 25 years of STETHS Alumni Association (Inc.) and on 60 years since the inception of our alma mater ...

, and worked as a repair technician for the Jamaican telephone company, before returning to school after receiving a scholarship to the

College of Arts, Science and Technology The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Ja.), formerly the College of Arts, Science and Technology, is a public university in Jamaica. History The university was founded as the Jamaica Institute of Technology in 1958. The following ye ...

. He became politically active while at the college, and was elected vice-president of the student council, although he declined the position. While at the college, he began performing, appearing regularly at venues such as 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 ...

(UWI), a nursing school and a teachers college. His initial forays into recording were not commercially successful (his first release was "Anti-Litter Law" in 1986)Habekost, Christian (1993), ''Verbal Riddim: The Politics and Aesthetics of African-Caribbean DubPpoetry'', Rodopi, , pp. 24–25. but his career began to turn around after he teamed with Silk. His first combination release with Silk was a version of

Johnny Nash John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists ...

's "I Can See Clearly Now".Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 7. Afari's style has been compared to that of

Mutabaruka Allan Hope (born 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Steppin' Razor''. His ...

. As well as performing more traditional poetry readings, he also performs his poetry live over

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

music. Although Afari rejects the slack lyrics that are common in dancehall, he believes that the genre can be used to get his message across:

"You have to link with the dancehall; you haffi recognize seh the human element is very important. Humans gather at the dancehall in their hundreds and thousands; you can't ignore that as a social activist. You have to find ways and means, creatively, to communicate without prostituting whatever you stand for, to address the dancehall reality".Stolzoff, Norman C. (2000), ''Wake the Town & Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica'', Duke University Press, , p. 237.

Afari toured throughout the United States and the Pacific Islands with Black Uhuru in the mid-1990s. In 1996, with Mutabaruka,

Tony Rebel Patrick George Anthony Barrett (born 15 January 1962), better known by his stage name Tony Rebel, is a Jamaican reggae deejay. Career Born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica, Barrett was initially a singer, appearing as Papa Tony or Tony Ranking in ...

, and Uton Green, Afari toured

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 ...

. In 2006, he co-headlined the Cayman Music Festival, along with

Freddie McGregor Freddie McGregor (born 27 June 1956, in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a Jamaican singer, musician and record producer. His music career began when he was seven years old. Biography In 1963 he joined with Ernest Wilson and Peter Austin to form The C ...

and

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

.Freddy, Yassus, Maxi heat up Music Fest"
''Cayman Net News'', 15 February 2006. In 2007, he toured England, performing at prisons, mental institutions, book shops and schools, as well as acting as poet in residence at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, where his book ''Overstanding Rastafari'' was launched in the UK.Cooke, Mel (2007),
Yasus Afari changes focus for England"
''Jamaica Gleaner'', 22 October 2007. ''Overstanding Rastafari'' was the result of five years work for Afari, and was described by Professor Barry Chevannes of the UWI as "a work by a Rastafarian scholar who is interpreting for the non-Rastafarian audience his perspective. Not idiosyncratically his own, but the view of the movement on where Jamaica and the world are positioned at this time".Cooke, Mel (2007)

''Jamaica Gleaner'', 2 April 2007. Afari's latest album is ''Public Secret'', recorded with his band Dub Vijan, and released in 2013. Afari has also recorded as a background vocalist and dub poet for

Everton Blender Everton Blender (born 21 November 1954) Everton Dennis Williams, in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a reggae singer and producer, known for his smooth, crooning, tenor vocals, up-tempo arrangements, and spiritually uplifting themes, successfully bridgin ...

General Degree Cardiff Butt, better known as General Degree (or simply Degree) and later as Snapple Dapple, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay and record producer. Biography Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Degree worked as a tailor before beginning his career in mus ...

and Tony Rebel. Afari is head of Edutainment Promotion, organisers (with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission) of the Jamaican Poetry Festival.

Discography

*''Dancehall Baptism'' (1993),

RAS Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

*''Mental Assassin'' (1995) *''Honour Crown Him'' (1997), Sen Ya Cum *''Gift of Vijjahn'' (2000), House of Honour *''Revolution Chapter 1'' (2007) *''Ancient Future'' (2012), Senya-Cum Records *''Public Secret'' (2013),

Fox Fuse Fox Fuse is a leading digital music label for Caribbean music and is the largest label worldwide for soca and chutney music. Based in Tampa, Florida (previously in New York City), Fox Fuse has built a strong reputation working with superstar c ...

Books

*''Eye Pen'' *''Overstanding Rastafari: Jamaica's Gift to the World'' (2007) *''Vocal Ink: The Mental Intercourse'' (2016)Walters, Basil (2016),
Yasus Afari launches new book, Vocal Ink"
''Jamaica Observer'', 9 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.

References

External links

* * Mark Dawes (2007).

(feature/interview), ''

'', 14 April 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Afari, Yasus 1962 births Jamaican dub poets Jamaican Rastafarians Living people Jamaican male poets People from Saint Elizabeth Parish