A man with a musical mission
- A Sri Lankan born in California, Ras Ceylon speaks on how rasta and Sri Lanka has influenced his music
By Rashika Fazali
“For me, music is the universal language. It is the vehicle of expression,” said rastafarian rapper and lyricist Ras Ceylon. I first heard him when he performed at Alternative Sunday Round 6. He had what most rappers lack today – swag and emotion. It was quite inspiring to watch him speak of unity and to see how people stood up for what he believes in.
Born to Sinhalese parents who migrated to the US in the 70s, Ras was raised with his sister in California. For someone who has never lived in Sri Lanka for a long period of time, he is very patriotic to his parents’ homeland.
When I asked him what made him pursue music, he said, “I used to be a troublemaker back in school. I figured I could put all of it into something productive, like into music, you know. I learned to express myself through music.”
That wasn’t just it though. Before he became a rapper, he was a DJ and being a DJ helped him become a rapper. “I used to be one of the four people on my team who did not have turntables so most of the time, I ended up as the host of the gig. There used to be a lot of battles – a lot of freestyle battles. And before I knew it, I became a rapper,” said Ras.
Speaking on his love for free styling which eventually helped him a lot in his music, he said, “Nothing is premeditated when it comes to free styling. You just go with the flow. For me, it is a form of therapy.”
In the 90s, he released an album titled ‘Ceylon: The first lesson,’ (he used to go as ‘Ceylon’ before he embraced the rastafarian faith). It was compiled while he was in high school and came out as a cassette release.
“That album was all about the hardcore hip hop vibes. It was about me coming out to the world and establishing myself as a rapper,” explained Ras when I asked him if that album had any rastafarian material or any relevance to Sri Lanka.
So how has rasta helped him? “Rastafari is not a religion, but is a way of life for me. It changed my life,” he said. He found this faith after he went to a gathering of hip hoppers organized by Youth International that connected music and rasta. His second album, ‘The Collegraduate: Lessons 1999-2004’ was the result of his faith that saw a fusion of hip hop and reggae tunes. The title of the album had an interesting story behind it too.
He named the album after Kanye West’s album, ‘The College Dropout’ that made big waves in the year 2004. “Everyone was high up about that album saying a dropout was able to do this, and you don’t need education, and on. But that is not the truth. You need education. Just like the rastafari movement leader Emperor Haile Sellassie I taught us, ‘Education is key.’ I was able to study and compile my music, so why can’t anyone else?” Ras questioned, adding, “Higher education is a human right.”
2006 saw him put out a vinyl single called ‘Western front’ while 2008 was the year he released his third album ‘Scientific/Non Fiction’ under the record label ‘Throwback Records.’ His latest album ‘Gideon.Force V2: Repatriation Time,’ is a follow up to his 2011 album, ‘Gideon.Force Vol.1.’
It speaks clearly about Sri Lanka with tracks like ‘Repatriation Time’ that speaks of returning a person back to one’s place of origin and ‘Heal Lanka’ that stands out as the mission statement for post-war in Sri Lanka, unity, everlasting peace and as a call to help the northern and eastern areas. He has worked with famous reggae artists such as Norris Man, Munga and did also work at a rasta camp/studio in Kingston, Jamaica called Judgement Yard. You can check out his other powerful tunes about Sri Lanka such as ‘Decolonize’ and ‘My Island’ on his website rasceylon.com.
With a degree in international relations, he is all about giving back to his motherland whichever way he can – musically. Currently, he is working for an NGO in Sri Lanka, the Asia Foundation for a campaign called ‘Books for Asia’ that gives books to schools and libraries.
He recently went to Jaffna for the future leaders’ conference organised by Sri Lanka Unites to help host arts and entertainment workshops for the children and he dutifully performed at the event as well.
Music and Sri Lanka go hand in hand for Ras Ceylon, and his love for the people in the country is stronger than words can express but he did say, “Music is important to express our roots.”
As for his future plans, he is set to embark on a two-day musical tour to India to promote his new album. “Where would I see myself in five years? Wow – most probably living here in Sri Lanka and California, back and forth, and contributing to Sri Lanka,” asserted Ras. He also had a very special message to the people of Sri Lanka: “To strive for unity, justice and peace with liberation of the mind, body and soul for all of humanity.” You can catch him perform tomorrow, 30 September at Alternative Sunday Round 8 at Kamikaze.
