♪ Ras J

Greetings to the four corners of the earth -
I am originally from Litchfield, CT and moved to Chapel Hill with my beautiful wife back in 1997. Before that, I went to college at Uconn and ECSU . When I graduated in '92, I got an internship through my college radio show with OJ Wedlaw (now at Universal) and Cold Chillin' Records (Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Genius, Roxanne Shante, Biz Markie, etc.) in NYC. I lived up in Washington Heights at 137th & Broadway and took the 1/9 downtown every day. After that I worked for Rude Boy/Atlantic Records (Shawnie Ranks) in the same building as the Source magazine in the Village. Eventually, I moved on to Poindexter Marketing, which at the time was one of the only major reggae promo companies in the country, having had a big hand in breaking Shabba Ranks in the US market. We worked on Buju Banton 's major label debut 'Voice of Jamaica' and his first official US single 'Deportees' (on Loose Cannon/Mercury/Polygram) and really helped break Born Jamerican's big hit 'Boom-Shak A-tack' for Delicious Vinyl. We worked with our brethren DJ Yonnie (Road International) on Tony Rebel, Tiger, Diana King, Patra and the 'Cool Runnings' soundtrack for Columbia and on Rumpletilskinz 'Attitudes' for RCA. We also worked Red Fox's 'Dem a Murderer' on Elektra, the 'Positively Reggae' project (Shaggy, Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley, Lieutenant Stitchie, etc) for Sony, as well as doing some early promo work for the original Wu Tang Record label and RZA on 'Protect Ya Neck' - and a million other indie reggae and hip hop projects. I did a lot of club promo ( Webster Hall , Sticky Mike's Posse, Tilt Club, Arena) in NYC, the most successful of my own events being the 'Bambu Nation' series of hip hop parties (Anarchy Cafe, 205 Club ) with DJ Mighty Mi. I worked club promo on the streets of NYC for Matt De Matt ( Gaslight , G2) and coordinated the music acts for the annual "May Day" event in Washington Square Park in NYC, booking groups like the Jungle Brothers, Yami Bolo, Sister Carol, Dog Eat Dog and many more for crowds that reached 20,000. I was even in a bunch of videos back then, 'Show Me Love'-Robin S , 'Bedroom Bully' - Shabba Ranks and quite a few others. Crazy, fun times. I worked with the Now Born Click (Staten Island) on Step Sun Records and was also a roadie during that time for Super Cat and Wild Apache (RIP Fred). In other words, I paid my dues.
After that I moved back to CT and managed a Strawberries (TWEC) music store for a few years & also worked at Toad's Place nightclub in New Haven. (My old buddy from those days, Jay Reason, runs Stillborn Records in CT with Jamey from Hatebreed.) I moved down to North Carolina a couple years later & got a great job in commercial radio promotions (SFX, Capstar, AMFM), where I stayed for a few years covering concerts (Phish, Van Halen, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Dave Matthews, Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic, Ozzfest, etc.) & various promo events all over the Raleigh market. My next job was at Redeye Distribution , as their first Marketing Director. We did some great work with Nick Lowe, Caitlin Cary, Los Straitjackets, the Pernice Brothers and many more. Some cool folks over there, I wish them well. The last big project I worked there was setting up retail promo for John Mayer's 'Room for Squares' cd. (Who knew, right?) I've got two beautiful daughters, Kaily (8) and Lucy (4), so you know the deal. Not much club action or trees these days. I still have my turntables, my mic skills, my guitar and a few friends & I dj out at clubs ( Cat's Cradle , Blend, Fuse ) down here now and then with the Soul Circle Soundsystem playing vintage reggae 45s, seventies soul, rootical dub and classic dancehall niceness. In the past I've opened for Buju Banton, Steel Pulse and the Wailers. I also still write freelance music reviews once in a while (Independent Weekly, Sky Vibes). My good friend, foundation reggae artist Keith Poppin lives nearby as well. Basically, I have a myspace page so that I can network with old friends, meet a few new folks & find out about some different music. Glad you stopped by, positive vibes and jah guide...