Ras Daan Jah
Daan Jacobs, known professionally as Ras Daan Jah (born in Belgium on 11 August 1995) is a devout Rastafari, roots reggae artist, storyteller, toaster/deejay, MC, Nyahbinghi/djembé percussionist, singer, poet, songwriter and ghostwriter. He is currently signed by African, Rwanda-based label, RevoLeonceLution Music record label, owned by his personal producer and beat maker Leonce Beatz.
Early Career
Ras Daan Jah grew up with all kinds of music at an early age thanks to his parents, who took him to all kinds of concerts very early. At the age of 13, after a trip to the United States, he came into contact with old-school hip hop music and soon fell in love with this genre and decided to learn more about it. Coincidentally, a few weeks later he was given a school assignment to write a rap text, and he was the only one in his class to pass this with the highest distinction and congratulations of the examination committee. His music teacher asked him to perform his lyrics a capella. His teacher and classmates were so impressed by this that they encouraged him to do more with it and get into it deeper, so this became his hobby and favorite activity. A year later he formed a duo with a classmate and good friend who beatboxed to entertain people on the street and at school. Ras Daan Jah wrote over 300 lyrics in his teens. During a holiday in Jamaica a few years later, he came into contact with some Rastafari people and the culture, and decided to study more about this. Two years later he decided to go back to Jamaica to learn more about the Rastafari culture among real Rastas and he stayed with them for almost 3 months. Here he fell completely in love with this culture and with the country and decided to continue through life as a Rasta and Nazarite and therefore decided not to cut his hair anymore. During his stay he was Baptized by an elder of the Nyabinghi Order, the oldest mansion of Rastafari. Soon after he also made the switch from hip hop to roots reggae and ragga/dancehall. However, it wasn't until his early twenties that he decided to effectively make music more than just a hobby and decided to record and release his songs professionally. His debut album: The Storybook of Ras Daan Jah was therefore not hip hop as everyone would have expected in the past, but reggae in the form of stories that he told as if it were his own written storybook to a reggae beat.
Musical Career
The Storybook of Ras Daan Jah is an album full of stories as the name suggests, as if he would tell a bedtime story. The stories deal with all kinds of different themes, but it was Ras Daan Jah's intention to use these self-made stories to warn adults and especially children about the dangers and mistakes hidden in life if you make the wrong choices and if you are not careful enough. And also to watch out for other people and to not just trust everyone because not everyone has the best intentions toward you. But to always be good to others, even if they may not always be good for you. There are also songs about world problems such as racism and poverty. The album also includes some songs in which he praises Jah and shows his love for Rasta and Africans and black people.
All these stories contain a funny or sad content. What makes this album extra fun to listen to are all the voices from small children to old women that Ras Daan Jah does all by himself.
He is also an owner of a recording studio (Little Africa) and is also the founder of the group (Little Africa United) that he formed with some of his musical protégés.
Personal life
Ras Daan Jah is very strict in his diet and is vegan and only eats organic/ital food.
Most of his food comes from his own garden. He eats only a few pieces of fruit for breakfast and a hot meal with mostly vegetables for dinner. The rest of the day he doesn't eat because of fasting and praying between him and Jah.
He is very strict in his Rastafari way of life and has truly devoted his whole life to Jah. However he is white, he is amongst one of the strictest rasta worldwide. To him everyone is equal and every good person will one day return to Africa, the place where we all came from.
Ras Daan Jah is also a Nazarite and is therefore absolutely against the use of alcohol, drugs or smoking. He is also absolutely not allowed to cut his hair and he avoids any contact with death (no funerals or grave visits). Even though marijuana use is popular among the rastas, Ras Daan Jah does not use it, “I do not use ganja and will never use this. I'm already in a higher level of consciousness with Jah so definitely don't need this. The use of marijuana is way too easily abused by saying I am rasta by persons who are not rasta at all or do not use it with the right intention. Many people use it to relax or to take your mind away from the world for some time and this sacred herb is not made for this according to him. Ganja should only be used as a healing medicine instead of pharmaceutical medicines. Ras Daan Jah doesn’t like what he calls "wolves in sheep's clothing", these are people who have dreadlocks but know nothing about rasta and give this way of life a bad name. In his opinion dreadlocks are only reserved for real rastafari.
Ras Daan Jah is also a person who fights against racism and equal rights for all. He also enjoys entertaining the people and educating the people about health, life, food, nature and the Rastafarian way of life
Discography
Albums
References
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