Jah9 serves passion on ‘The Open Heart Project’
Published:Saturday | March 28, 2026 | 12:06 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Jah9 came with words and, yes, sometimes she said the quiet parts out loud, creating that not-so-tiny bit of discomfort that often leads to self-analysis. But that is all part and parcel of The Open Heart Project, a neo reggae soul offering that delves deeply into self.
The daughter of a preacher man, she had to remind herself that she didn’t come to preach, but it seemed as if those who were invited to her album listening on Thursday at Harry J Recording Studio in Kingston were there for it. Her four-song delivery, interspersed with words, some more profound than others, had at its heart a call to have a focused mind, a clear conscience, and an open heart. And Jah9 even had guests enthusiastically repeating her mantra: “love, money, best sex ever.”
Janine ‘Jah9’ Cunningham, the singer who ditched a successful career in corporate for the music, has always embodied a kind of quiet militancy that resonated with men, as indicated by the fact that 75 per cent of her fan base comprises “brothers”. But a sojourn to the Motherland is where the open heart surgery had its genesis and instead of fists raised high and pumping and songs praising Mama Africa, Jah9 softened, and the Rasta girl is now serving sensuous, sensual and sex appeal.
As she puts it, “A physical relocation became an existential turning point. The songs that came out of it are about what you find when you stop shrinking and own all of who you are.”
On Thursday, she not only owned the stage, as she delivered four songs – Open Heart, Match, Hurricane and Sacred Energy Xchange – she also owned womanhood. At 8:22 p.m. Jah9 entered the room, dressed in a tailored pants, paired with a matching jacket, vest, and an inside blouse, which she vamped up with red heels, bright red nail polish and a red hanky peeping out of her jacket pocket.
As the evening progressed, she would significantly remove the layers –jacket, then vest, then black blouse – to reveal a sexy bustier. This “unlayering” is similar to what she did when performing at the recent Lost in Time Festival and took fans by surprise.
She spoke a lot about relationship and got real passionate on Match, which she notes is “a moody take on courtship and expression in the presence of the right person”. She even held a session in Relationship Therapy 101, as the social scientist in her quizzed couples on what made them stay when that first storm hit. The reference point was her song, Hurricane, which was released just before Hurricane Melissa made landfall.
She shared a story about her record company representative reacting to one of the songs on the project, saying, “This is not Jah9”.
“But who knows Jah9?” the singer asked.
In her opening, she told the audience, “Much of the hardness that I had to put around myself to protect myself in this man’s world, I finally have the courage to shed.”
And having done that, and now “that she’s looking like a woman”, Jah9 stated with confidence and a smile, that “some men still like women ... not just [vagina]”.
It was while in the Motherland, during a brief stop in Tanzania that became three years owing to the pandemic, that Jah9 became a mother to a baby boy. And if her lyrics are anything to go by, then she may have a plan, “ keep yuh in my quarters until I get my daughter”, as she spells out in Match.
At 8:58 p.m., she delivered Sacred Energy Xchange (SEX) pointing out that “I spell it with a ‘X’ because sex is the name of the game.”
Those present were also treated to the world premiere of the video for Sacred Energy Xchange, and curiously enough it wasn’t about man and woman intimacy, it focused on the singer all by herself.
“Taking care of myself is sacred energy exchange,” Jah9 explained as the audience showed their appreciation by clapping.
The Open Heart Project was released on Friday via VP Records. Producers on the project are Iotosh, JLL and Winta James, with reimaginings by Shaka Lion. VP’s Director, Caribbean and Latin America, Michelle Williams, in a short address, urged listeners to “have an open heart”.