Taking the message to the world

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Singer, Songwriter and activist, Janine 'Jah 9' Cunningham, has singles out like Warning and Keep Holding Down for Don Corleon. But it is on the live scene that she is really making waves.

Though she was born in Trelawny, most of Jah 9's childhood was spent in Kingston. In the country's capital parish she learnt to sing by being a part of church and school choirs.

Jah 9 then turned to furthering her education at the University of the West Indies, where she studied psychology, criminology and human resource development.

But, she soon returned to her music, a rich blend of dub and jazz, influenced by Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Augustus Pablo and Sizzla Kalonji.

Blossoming from the underground-poetry and live-music scene, Jah 9 has spent much time as an unknown, but has earned the respect of her peers and audiences with each encounter.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner recently, Jah 9 said she is introverted. Turning towards yourself for company lends itself to thought, thus her personality is reflected in the thought-provoking music she is known for.

Doing music full-time for the last three years, Jah 9 made some life-changing decisions so she could really pursue her craft.

anticlimatic

"I was working for five years in corporate Jamaica until I decided to leave that world behind and do music full time. I was working on a project and after I was finished it was kinda anticlimatic, so I decided that I needed to do something that I was passionate about all the time. So far it has been really rewarding. Each day now is more significant than the day before," she said.

Though she has walked away from it, those years in the corporate world have had an impact on Jah 9's music.

The 27-year-old now views her music as a business, and Jah 9 as a brand.

Jah 9's three years in the music business are by no means a lot, but in that time, she has had some measure of success, catching the ear of guitarist Seretse Small and Sheldon Bernard of Harmony House Music.

It was Bernard who introduced her music to legendary crooner Beres Hammond who was immediately taken with the singer.

Since then, she has been working a lot with Bernard, Hammond, Don Corleon, Rory Gilligan of Stone Love International, as well as Dubtronic and the Uprising Band, who have been working on her debut album titled Rebellion.

The album, Jah 9 says, should be available in the first quarter of 2011. "The sound for the album is really jazz, dub and roots reggae. Its all conscious music. I'm doing things differently and you can see that in my work," the artiste explained.

In the meantime, the singer/songwriter who is also a part of the Manifesto Jamaica movement, is perfecting her art by performing at live events across the island such as Dub Treatment, Seven Year Itch, Roots A Di Music, Omega Vibration and a recent show in Canada for the Manifesto sister group there.

"I performed with Protojé in Canada and that was awesome to be in front of thousands of people who have never heard your music before and to really connect with them."

Five years from now, spreading her message across the world is what Jah 9 sees herself doing, bringing Omega Vibration to every continent.