The ManicaPost
MUTABARUKA is an amazing man, a vegan rastafarian who challenges the assumed concept of Rastaganja smoking. A drug-free dub-poet with more years of veganism than I have of life.
He has been addressing the very same issues as most of the political vegan-straight edge kids have. It is not only recommendable but we would say essential to get acquainted with such a man.
Pay him a visit at his homepage, get the records, listen, and learn. What follows is a collage of a myriad of dispersed interviews through the web and through the years. When you hear the conviction and power behind the words of Mutabaruka, it’s not hard to believe that this dub poet, actor, comedian, producer, publisher, entrepreneur and radio host has been dedicated to inspiring black people everywhere with his words of self-determination, empowerment and spirituality for the past 30 years. Drawing from Rastafarianism and the significant contributions of Haile Selassie, Marcus Garvey and Malcom X, Muta’s words open the mind and offer insight into the deep-rooted ills of blacks worldwide. On his new album Life Squared, his first since 1994, Muta continues to explore the black liberation struggle through music and his riveting, eloquent and unwavering pan-African expressions.
For someone who obviously has so much to say, and has said so much over the years, why has it taken you so long to put out another record?
Mutabaruka: My thing is not about putting out records, y’know. I’ve been busy doing other things. I’ve been touring a lot, and I have a radio program here in Jamaica that takes up a lot of time. I’ve also been back and forth to Africa many times, the U.S. and Britain too, as well as running my bookstore. My time has been taken up by travelling instead of going to the studio.
Has the state of the world right now prompted this album at all, or has it just come back to the point where you have time to record?
Muta: I just decided that I have to make a CD of where I am at right now in poetry and mind.
Your words definitely have a way of sticking. They stay with you long after you’ve heard them, and I feel that Life Squared is very reflective of our global situation.
Muta: We all evaluate things and see things differently. Sometimes an artist sees the world a little different from a normal person. They see from another eye, so we reflect what people have in their minds but don’t have the opportunity to say publicly. People would say what I say in my poems if they had the same stage as me.
How do you see the situation in Iraq and the domino effect that it has set into play?
Muta: It’s all about the New World Order. It’s all about manipulation and control. It’s all about crusading, and the Western world trying to impose Christianity and democracy on people who have nothing to do with that idea and that consciousness. The capitalist world is under the impression that if the whole world is not Christianized and democratized, we will make sure that you are.
I understand you conduct “reasoning sessions” at the University of the West Indies?
Muta: Actually, yes. They gave me an honorary fellowship up there.
What does that entail?
Muta: What it does is allow a person who does not have any university or academic qualification, but is able to articulate philosophy, to mix and communicate with the students up there. My job is to interact with different ideas and thoughts, especially my views on Rastafari and the African perspective. People have heard me on the radio for 10 years and hear me saying certain things that is out of their normal mindset, and they want it to be qualified, so most of the things we discuss are about God and Rasta and world issues.
…to be continued next week
For contributions on reggae/dancehall music and latest news contact Ras Libz Kartel on 0773 219 891 or [email protected]
