 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(March 2019) |
 | |
| Parent company | VP Records |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Doctor Dread |
| Distributor(s) | Universal Music Group [1] (physical) BMG Rights Management (digital) |
| Genre | Reggae |
| Country of origin | United States/United Kingdom/Jamaica |
| Official website | http://www.rasrecords.com/ |
RAS Records, also known as Real Authentic Sound, is a reggae record label.
RAS Records was founded in 1979 by Doctor Dread. In his travels to Jamaica he created a network within the reggae artist community there. By the early to mid-1980s, RAS had signed artists such as Black Uhuru, Inner Circle, Culture, Junior Reid, Yellowman, and Freddie McGregor. This allowed RAS to grow significantly throughout the world. To date, the label has also signed artists including Luciano, The Wailers Band, Sizzla and Tony Rebel.
Over the years, several RAS artists[ who? ] have been nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1996, Bunny Wailer received an award for his tribute album, Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary.
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the honouring of God, called Jah by Rastafarians. It is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor. Lyrical themes include spirituality and religion, struggles by artists, poverty, black pride, social issues, resistance to fascism, capitalism, corrupt government and racial oppression. A spiritual repatriation to Africa is a common theme in roots reggae.
Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru. The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful period in the 1980s, with their album Anthem winning the first ever Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1985.
Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in The New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".
The Congos are a reggae vocal group from Jamaica which formed as the duo "Ashanti" Roy Johnson (tenor) and Cedric Myton (falsetto), later becoming a trio with the addition of Watty Burnett (baritone), and have been active on and off from the mid-1970s until the present day. They are best known for their Heart of the Congos album, recorded with Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Africa Oyé Festival is the largest celebration of live African music in the UK. Originally a smaller, multi-venue event, Oyé now attracts over fifty thousand people every June to Liverpool's Sefton Park. The festival showcases new and established African and Caribbean artists, plus musicians from across the diaspora whilst celebrating various aspects of the same cultures. Oyé has also been known to programme music from South America and the diaspora, with Salsa, Soca and Reggae proving popular additions to the festival.
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a subgenre of reggae. Bob Marley cited Brown as his favourite singer, dubbing him "The Crown Prince of Reggae", and Brown would prove influential on future generations of reggae singers.
Inner Circle, also known as The Inner Circle Band or The Bad Boys of Reggae, are a Jamaican reggae band formed in Kingston in 1968. The band first backed The Chosen Few in the early 1970s before joining with successful solo artist Jacob Miller and releasing a string of records. This era of the band ended with Miller's death in a car crash in 1980.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Culture Press is an independent record label from UK specialized in Jamaican music.
VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, the label has established a presence in Toronto, Australia and New Zealand.
Clive Bright, better known as Tenor Saw, was a Jamaican dancehall singjay in the 1980s, considered one of the most influential singers of the early digital reggae era. His best-known song was the 1985 hit "Ring the Alarm" on the "Stalag" riddim.
Earl "Chinna" Smith, a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest, is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late 1960s. He is most well known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and as guitarist for Bob Marley & the Wailers, among others, and has recorded with many reggae artists, appearing on more than 500 albums.
Delroy "Junior" Reid is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. From 1986 to 1988, he served as lead vocalist for the reggae band Black Uhuru on three albums: Brutal (1986), Positive (1987), and Black Uhuru Live in New York (1988). His solo career is extensive, and is widely regarded as a great of Dancehall Reggae. He is also known for his guest performances on the Game's 2006 single "It's Okay ", as well as the remix of Mims' single, "This Is Why I'm Hot" alongside Baby Cham that same year.
Gary Himelfarb, aka Doctor Dread, is an American reggae producer who founded RAS Records. He is notable for his respectful dedication to roots reggae artists; and in turn for helping spread their works and words throughout the world.
Carlton "Santa" Davis is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Andrew Tosh, Wailing Souls, Ini Kamoze, Big Mountain, Michael Rose, and Ziggy Marley.
Bankie Banx is a reggae singer, known as the "Anguillan Bob Dylan".
Dwight Pinkney OD, also known as Brother Dee, is a Jamaican guitarist best known for his work as a session musician and as a member of Zap Pow and the Roots Radics, who since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist.
Winston Jarrett is a Jamaican reggae singer who was part of Alton Ellis's group The Flames in the 1960s before recording with The Righteous Flames and as a solo artist.
Fredrick “Freddie” McGregor is a Jamaican singer, musician and record producer. His music career began when he was seven years old.
