Sherwin Rose, aka RAs I-san, 29, of Jacksonville, and a mason by trade, has been singing for more than 15 years but has been following on his dream to become an international recording artiste.
Choosing the name Ras I-San he is, as he says, the natural one. The father of two girls released two singles in 2003 out of the Fyah Clann studios on the dreaded rhythm titled Mama Africa.
He released another titled ‘Need love’ earlier this year as a call for love and an end to violence as has been the case for several years past on the local shores. He recorded this song in Trinidad and Tobago at the Vengeance studios.
Now back in Guyana after three years of working in the twin-island republic he is focused on producing an album which is already completed and will be launched soon. “My album titled ‘Share your bread’ comprises 12 tracks recorded in Trinidad and Guyana. These are mostly reggae, soca and dancehall songs to uplift the people who listen to them”.
He says that he’s not just about Dancehall and prefers to be known as an edu-tainer who only focuses on Positive Vibes. At present, he has completed two videos-Mama Africa filmed in Guyana, and Need Love. He is hoping that local VJays will give him and other Guyanese artistes equal opportunities of airplay.
The album and the were paid for by him self out of pocket because he believes in himself and his abilities. but he say if all goes well he’s hoping that corporate Guyana will come on board to offset his expenses which so far have been more than $20,000 per song for studio time.
He aspires to go as far as the music takes him and like all other artistes he says, “The sky is the limit.”
He is also calling on the relevant authorities to do their part in ensuring that intellectual copyrights legislation is implemented so that “we all can live and…for too long local artistes have been treated like lesser mortals. We need to earn a living from our abilities.”
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By Mondale Smith