The São Paulo band JAH I RAS began its work at the end of 2003, and is one of the great rising names on the national reggae scene. The band stands out for its strong and conscious lyrics and engaged reggae in the Rastafari Doctrine; it is considered by musicians, press and audience one of the greatest revelations of the genre in Brazil, even winning the "Revelation Reggae Band 2006" award from Expresso Brasil and "Revelation Reggae Band 2007" from Circuito Reggae.
The group is led by composer Ras Kadhu, a vocalist of charisma, feeling and musical quality, who was part of one of the 11 choral groups of USP (Universidade São Paulo) conducted by Maestros such as Damiano Cozzella and Benito Juarez, exercising this craft for 3 years as "Baritone". Currently, besides the original members Ras Kadhu and Robi Tex, JAH I RAS features Ras Guaraci on drums, Ras Gabriel Santana on keyboards, Lincoln Pontes on rhythm guitar and didgeridoo (instrument of Australian aborigines), JAH Peter on bass, Fernando Alves on guitar and vocals, and Juliana Rocca on backing vocals, on horns Junior "Bill Bill" and Airton "Tom".
In 2005 the promotional CD "Selassie I Vive" launched as a preview of the official CD sold more than 4,000 copies, totaling more than 7,000 independent copies in 2006. Currently the band tours throughout the country, visiting cities such as Paraná, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, interior and coast of São Paulo. The band is also preparing to release its first DVD at the beginning of the year and its studio CD will be released by the Pata de Mostro label of Rapper Gato Preto (Família G.O.G) with release scheduled for the first semester of 2008.
The group recorded and is mixing the tracks of the new work at Áudio Fyah studio, with renowned producer and sound engineer Wagner Bagão, who has worked with heavyweights of national reggae such as Tribo de Jah, Reggae Style and Leões de Israel, among others. When asked about the band's goals with the first CD, Ras Kadhu explains: "Our goal is to expand our message of peace, harmony, truth and love to every corner of Brazil". "We want to demystify Rastafari life, since this is a culture that is in a way 'foreign' and ends up suffering distortions by the press, government and by people who do not know that Rastafari is in fact Original Christianity". With all this, there is no doubt that it is worth waiting for and checking out the work of the band JAH I RAS, the newest exponent of truly Rastafari reggae made in Brazil.