REGGAE CLUB HITS
I know several of his songs, well-known in Reggae scenes all over the world, including some “Reggae club hits” such as Hungry, Only Jah Love, Stronger, Murderer, and especially Rasta Got Soul, and further some collaboration tunes, such as Dem Nuh Build Great Man (with Jah Cure). I heard them in Amsterdam (Netherlands), where I live.
With such hits at dances or in clubs, Fantan Mojah made quite a name of himself as artist among Reggae fans internationally, as representative of the “New Roots” current, often with Bobo Ashanti affiliations, like Capleton, Sizzla, Anthony B. and others..
The ‘Bobo Ashanti’ are one of the “mansions” (branches/subgroups) within the Rastafari movement, known as relatively strict and disciplined. Prince Emmanuel Charles Edwards played a founding role in it in 1958. Other Rastafari adherents in Jamaica belonged to the oldest Nyabinghi order (since the 1930s), or the more liberal Twelve Tribes (founded in 1968, by Vernon Gad). Members of these separate “mansions” – as they are called biblically – all have influenced Reggae music and its lyrics, especially since the 1970s.
NEW ROOTS
The new “conscious Reggae current” (“New Roots”) since the 1990s was for some reason relatively strongly influenced by members of the Bobo Ashanti mansion within the Rastafari movement, including thus Fantan Mojah whose debut single Hungry was released in 2004.
As Rastafari sympathizer – and lover of conscious Reggae music – I appreciated this new Roots Reggae current by the likes of Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B, and others, and enjoyed their music, and could agree with the lyrics (mostly).
I still wondered, though, why specifically this Bobo Ashanti branch/mansion within Rastafari became so influential in this later stage. I heard suddenly references to Prince Emmanuel I in newer Reggae, more than in older Reggae, wondering who that was.
Soon I found out, of course, that Prince Emmanuel was the influential founder of the Bobo Ashanti mansion in 1958, a mansion I little by little got to learn more about, due to a curiosity triggered by these newer Reggae artists. A bit older than the Twelve Tribes of Israel mansion (founded in 1968), but newer than the “organic” or “original” Rastafari movement represented by the Nyabinghi order.
RASTAFARI MANSIONS
Even if in some sense divisive within the movement, the history and time-frame behind these Rastafari mansions is interesting. Nyabinghi – known for the heart-beat drumming – arose more or less organically with Rastafari as movement itself in Jamaica (since the 1930s), the Bobo Ashanti was as said founded by Prince Emmanuel in 1958, and 10 years later, in 1968, the Twelve Tribes of Israel mansion was founded by Vernon Carrington (Gad). The latter was thus founded in the “hippy”, “flower power” time in the Western world, but I am not sure whether this reached Jamaica.
There have been travel between Jamaica and the US (migration, tourism, touring, seasonal work) at that time too, of course, as well as mass international media, but either way: there are for some reason similarities in Twelve Tribes views with what people consider “flower power”: progressive, “left-wing”, open- and free-minded, equality across races and gender, but also differences. The Twelve Tribes associated itself also with Biblical Christianity, albeit in a very free way. The “hippies” in the West (Europe, US, etc.) – on the other hand – tended to follow such Flower Power movement precisely because they left behind that Christian, small-minded doctrine of their parents or teachers (be it Protestant and Catholic). There are still some parallels, as also among Protestants and Catholics there arose people who maintained that faith but in a looser, hippy-like way, such as in the Netherlands where I grew up. Some left more conservative, religious (protestant, catholic) political parties for one with more progressive, left-wing views, mixing it somehow. Also the concert venue Paradiso in Amsterdam was – as still visible inside it - once a Church (of a relatively liberal protestant order), but changed in that Flower Power era since the late 1960s, even selling marijuana/weed inside. Sign of the times.
I myself adhere to Rastafari tenets in my own personal way, so do not get stuck in tribal, or divisive thinking: the organic history and the drumming and natural living focus of the old Nyabinghi order appealed to me most, also because it mostly lacked a strict hierarchy. Twelve Tribes had appealing aspects (open-minded progressive, socialist thinking) – at least to me, because of my background - , but also some side-paths I was less interested in (astrology etc.). But to each his own.
BOBO ASHANTI
What ticked me off at first when I learned about the Bobo Ashanti/Shanty mansion, now, was its strict nature, including separation of the sexes, hierarchy (with priests), and taking the Bible too literally, to the point where it loses its deeper sense (in my humble opinion). This translates into sometimes irrational life rules, some limiting/degrading females, we already know too well from other world “religions” (Christianity, Islam, Hindusim, etc.). Conservatism with no sense, to put it in some way. The uneasy relationship between men and women - wanting to separate them, or keeping women subservient - also seemed not really intelligent or mature to me, giving evidence of either male insecurity, or sexual frustration, which maybe some good psychological counseling can help resolve.
The (scholarly) article ‘Rastawoman as rebel: case studies in Jamaica’, written by Imani M. Tafari-Ama, part of the collective volume ‘Chanting down Babylon : the Rastafari reader’ , published in 1998, says specifically about Bobo Ashanti (quoting Tafari-Ama):
“The House of Rastafari is divided into many mansions {……] Patriarchal dogmas all encountered in all realms, and one exists with them – or in spite of – them. One mansion that most clearly organizes around differentiation of roles is the Bobo Shanti […] where gender differentiations, especially as they relate to sexuality, are pronounced”..
BIBLE
Some Rastafari adherents I know found the Twelve Tribes “too Christian”, but the Bobo Shanty are no less Biblically based, even taking more literal its texts. This can even be seen as a unwitting Eurocentric aspect as when Protestantism arose, with the founder Martin Luther in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, and after spread throughout especially Northwestern Europe, the focus on the “literal” Biblical text was emphasized by Luther, with book printing available, now to be read by each believer. This was Luther’s response to the (in his view) “corruption” by Catholicism’s “intermediaries” (priests, cardinals, the pope, etc.) interpreting it for the masses (often illiterate), but the Bible texts were by the early Protestants often taken very literal and authoritarian, in line with vested interests. This ruined Protestantism’s “free-thinking”, individualistic potential from the start; individualism seemed only valued for material well-being (making money, allowing interest on loans, etc.).
According to Max Weber, Protestant values historically enabled eventually what we call “capitalism”, but unfortunately (religious-wise) not really “free thinking”, but more a moral sense of superiority just for knowing what is said in the Bible.
When Britain colonized Jamaica (capturing it on the Spaniards in 1655), Britain was already a proud Protestant nation, and this (unwittingly) influenced also the Afro-Jamaicans, up to the Rastafari movement, as it – as Mutabaruka pointed out – had to be based (first in the 1930s) on something they knew: e.g. British Christianity as colonial legacy in Jamaica. This is thus even noticeable within such “literal” Biblical influence in Bobo Shanty, who otherwise are Africa-focussed, and call for Black separatism, and living apart from Western Babylon. Ironic, but historically explainable, as so many contradictory issues.
My personal opinion is that the Bible is mostly not to be taken literally, but metaphorically – alongside other perhaps useful writings, world wide -, that all individuals (whatever gender, race, class, o.o.) are equal despite Babylon system's interests, and that Jah lives within each individual, that we should live healthy lives in balance with nature, and that Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie are pivotal figures in the Rastafari movement, and Africa – and its history - as continent important.
Mostly these aspects seemed shared among all the mentioned “mansions”/branches within Rastafari, so I did not really bother aligning myself with one in particular.
Still, some chose to, including recent and earlier Reggae artists. Bob Marley was associated by some with Twelve Tribes, but neither he seemed to pick consequently any preferred mansion. Dennis Brown the artist also was associated with the Twelve Tribes (in a concrete manner too, community work, etcetera), but seemed to be quite loose too.
TRUE ARTISTS
Maybe the psychological conundrum is that interesting (musical) artists have to have strong, unique personalities – and Reggae luckily knew many of those – which is hard to combine with tribal “group” thinking, with set rules and hierarchies for belonging. Or living as too "disciplined" for that matter. True artists think free.
Rastafari tends after all to value “thinking for oneself” too, as also sung by Burning Spear (on e.g. It Is Good). Burning Spear is also one of those artists who mentions the Twelve Tribes in his lyrics here and there (his “hit” Columbus, for example), but further seems loose and “above” such divisions.
Fantan Mojah thus came to prominence in the Reggae world a bit after Bobo Shanty-adherents Sizzla and Capleton, who came with conscious Reggae since the 1990s, and like them, Fantan certainly had good songs, and a distinctive, intriguing voice, capable of transmitting both militant and more “soulful” messages. He (like Sizzla and others) surrounded himself with Jamaican Reggae musicians who knew how to play it, or sang on extant, but good and timeless “riddims” (instrumentals).
An interesting difference is that Fantan Mojah did not engage much in (digital) Dancehall, as his precursors Sizzla and Capleton partly did more, remaining mostly in the Reggae realm, only in some later songs.
I did not really notice much of the Bobo Shanty vibe I spoke about in his songs, in the sense of making his songs different from e.g. artists without that alliance, apart from mentioning Prince Emmanuel I, as Fantan Mojah does in some songs. Several songs of Fantan Mojah are truly spiritual in a broader Rastafari sense, for instance, others broader militant.
MARCUS GARVEY
AI (advanced Google as I see it) claims that the Bobo Ashanti place Marcus Garvey at a higher level than the other mansions, just praising Selassie. Bobo Ashanti claim to uphold a trinity of Haile Selassie, Marcus Garvey, and Prince Emmanuel . This has doubtful aspects.
I heard Marcus Garvey being mentioned and respected in several Rastafari-inspired Reggae artists (Burning Spear!), also by non-Bobo Ashanti. That Prince Emmanuel takes the liberty to place himself in the company of two great, revered figures by Rastas - and to be equally revered - seemed a bit an ego trip to me, and not very modest. This puts me a bit off, as it reeks of a “cult” around a self-aggrandizing person.
This, combined with a hierarchy, (male-led!) separation of sexes, and some women-unfriendly practices – considering menstruating women as “impure” and therefore to be separated from men – further made me take some distance to it, sticking to the old Nyabinghi order of Rastafari, developed as organically as nature itself, combining it perhaps with selected “progressive/hippy-like” ideas (as also in Twelve Tribes) fitting my personal (family) background, or with aspects from the devoted energy of the Bobo.
Still, I did not get an unpleasant “strict” or “zealot” vibe from most songs of Sizzla, or Fantan Mojah for that matter, I liked. After all, they had many fun-loving and party songs lyrically, also about marijuana, and positive lyrics about peacefully living together.
It is said that even stricter than the other mansions, Bobo Ashanti maintain that smoking weed is strictly meditational and “never” for fun or recreation. A strange contradiction – good fun is in my opinion also in a sense “meditational” . This “pure for meditation” use is formally upheld, yet conflicting with some “ganja (marijuana) as fun” lyrics by Sizzla, Anthony B, Capleton, and other Bobo artists.
As individual artists they don’t take it all so strict or literal, apparently, which I appreciate. Else lyrics become “pushy” and “preaching” in a wrong way. I seldom have that with the “new Roots” with Bobo Ashanti dominance.
They, including Fantan Mojah, tend to express their Rastafari faith in a pleasant, accessible manner lyrically, with good musicianship and songs. So, not as conservative “tight-asses” bothering us with their authoritarian, rigid world view. Only here and there (regarding homosexuality, sexuality) some strict or intolerant views came to the fore, as became known of Sizzla.
Funny, how Capleton – in response to critics – said that “fire” or “bu(r)n” references in lyrics, even “burn battyman/gays” – are meant metaphorically, not literally.
Some of the stricter views of Bobo Ashanti, however, derive from taking the Bible, with ancient Hebrew prescriptions taken more literal than in other branches of Rastafari.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Bobo Ashanti also live more separate from society than the Twelve Tribes, known to just participate in (Western) society, when inevitable (“normal”, Babylonian jobs), while the Bobo Ashanti strive to self-sufficiency, in own communities. The best known is that at Bull Bay (about 16 km east of Jamaica’s capital Kingston), known as “Bobo Hill”.
This aspect of self-sufficiency appeals to me more, as both “big business” and “big state” in the Western (Babylon) world, have proven to be oppressive, and continu to be today, with new “scams”, like covid, war/military industry, digital ID, control, etcetera, added to their continuing neoliberalism and neocolonialism.
My mother told me that “if people know that you are dependent on them, they will abuse you..”. So for Black, African people in a White-led Western society and economy, self-sufficiency is certainly a good idea. It also is in line with Marcus Garvey’s views, even if outside of ancestral Africa, to which repatriation remained an aim.
The mental strength of trusting in one’s own capabilities might explain the energetic ambitiousness, and work ethic, of some Bobo Ashanti artists, making them dominate the “New Roots” of conscious Reggae music: less diluted by “society” or commercial demands.
RESPONSE TO GANG CRIME?
My personal hypothesis is that I relate it to the risen gang-related and gun-crime in Jamaica since the 1980s. The risen popularity of the “strict”, disciplined mansion of Bobo Ashanti within Rastafari, might well be a response to the inner-city “chaos” of crime, violence, and slackness – especially since the 1980s in Jamaica -, demanding a fierce response, separating from a society enabling this, by way of own communities, such as the one at Bull Bay by the Bobo Ashanti: less temptations of crime there. Thus, Bobo artists like Sizzla came to the fore by the 1990s.
In the end it is – on the other hand – an individual process, guided by individual wisdom. Malcolm X had a chaotic, opportunistic life of crime before he went to jail and joined the (also strict and separatist) Nation of Islam (NOI), but became influential not because he belonged to the NOI, but due to his strength of character, “charisma”, and shown and uttered wisdom. NOI members eventually turned against him, as is known, so “collectivistic group thinking” is not the way. Many criminals in recent times converted to Islam in prison – known in current times in England, for instance - possibly influenced by Malcolm X’s story, often even from non-Muslim backgrounds (e.g. Caribbean), but many of them lacked the personality to be anything more than “wannabe’s”, or even worse, continued with crime thereafter.
VERSATILE
Also an artist like Fantan Mojah clearly seemed to have an own free mind and strong personality, showing in his versatile songs and lyrics, including militant, socially critical, spiritual, emotional, and joyful – in other words broadly “human” - vibes, that resounded well with his and Reggae fans. For that reason, he had many “hit songs” in the Reggae scene, internationally..
LYRICS
Having mostly "conscious" lyrics, attacking injustice, poverty, "Babylon" or spiritual tunes (praising Jah), for good measure Fantan Mojah also made some nice, catchy love songs, often also making it "to the clubs and dances" as well (e.g. She Makes Me Feel So Nice).
Capleton was the one who more or less guided Fantan Mojah in the Reggae music industry, also giving him the name Fantan Mojah, after he embraced Rastafari. Before that Fantan (born Owen Moncrieffe) named himself Mad Killa, after artist Bounty Killer.
His "slave name" Moncrieffe sounds a bit "French", but is originally Scottish (region Perth) and Gaelic, pointing at the specific origins of the European family who once owned his family during slavery days, of course. In the British Caribbean about 70% of the slave owners originally came from England, and about 30% from either Scotland or Wales.
Fantan Mojah has a bit more love songs than his "mentor" (in part) Capleton, who has few. I thought once none, but in time I found out that also Capleton made some love songs. Of course their own choice, but perhaps no extreme is good: only lovey dovey songs? are there no social problems in this world?, or: no personal feelings or love songs? are you not a person of flesh and blood? The balance seemed in this regard okay with Fantan Mojah..
VOCAL STYLE
I personally like several songs of him, noting good musicianship (good Jamaican instrumentalists, including the drumming for a nice, danceable groove) – albeit often on known riddims - and catchy melodies, as well as intriguing, “wailing”, round and thunderous vocals with a unique energy, both for conscious tunes or occasional love songs. Songs with varying themes, from “Babylon a Murderer” to “When Will I See You Again”, therefore equally convinced.
Difficult to compare Fantan Mojah’s singing voice, though it has some similarities with Pressure Busspipe, or with new artists like Stranjah Miller. A slight “tunnel” feel, one might say.
His vocals can be seen as part of the “sing-jay” realm, increasing its popularity within Reggae since the 1990s: chorus melodic/sung, while the verses are dee-jayed/chatted/toasted more rhythmically. Fantan tended to vary melodically, though, even within such verses, also in “tempo” or pace. This added variation and intensity..
LEGACY
Songs that – due to good musicianship – never seemed to grow old, such as his most famous song Reggae Got Soul, which I heard many times in Reggae clubs (Café the Zen in Amsterdam, when it still existed, up to 2020), perhaps hundreds of times, but still I repeatedly enjoyed it. That is a sign of enduring quality.
I met Fantan Mojah in Café the Zen, Amsterdam (Netherlands) in 2017, when he gave there a small-scale “club concert, a kind of intimate one among fans, which was nice as change from the big venues (e.g. Melkweg or Paradiso in Amsterdam) where thousands of people fit, or on festivals. The intimacy gave a “community sense” to the songs we knew – I would even say: more meaning - , differing from the anonymity or (in part) commercial artifice of big venue-concerts. Money talks too loud, there.
After this Café the Zen “club” show in Amsterdam, he stuck around in Café the Zen and partied along with us to Reggae from a selecta/deejay played, and took photos with audience members. Nice vibes. (photo underneath: I-man with Fantan Mojah in 2017)
I saw shows by him in bigger venues too, such as the Melkweg, Amsterdam. The last time being in January 2025, with a good show, with some of his classic songs and club hits coming across well, with not too much interruptions or “flow breaks”. Little did we know this would be his last concert there, though it was known he had health issues.
Fantan Mojah leaves behind several good and catchy Reggae songs with good, positive messages. The dee-jay/selecta “tributes” and mixes made of his songs recently appearing online (e.g. on YouTube) testify to that. Also an older one, at https://youtu.be/fj77YLxJ5rM?si=aGyFTY1wopGqd4cf , by DjEasy mixmaster, I can recommend.
I have no specific favourite songs of Fantan Mojah as such, though among them would probably be Tell Lie Pon Rasta and Murderer, both engaging in their Rasta militancy and tune-wise, or the vocally varied Jah Time. More songs I like, though.
Rest In Eternal Power.
