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Born Raymond John was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. As a self-taught guitarist, singer and songwriter IRATE has been writing and composing music for 11 years. His style of music consists of reggae fused with hip hop and R&B creating a very unique sound which he simply calls “Soul Music”. As a songwriter IRATE is influenced simply by life itself and he believes in writing songs about life, love, truth and giving praises to the Most High Jah.
IRATE’s journey in music began after graduation from high school (St. John’s College) in 1996. He says “I guess I can say music found me because it was never something that I thought I would end up pursuing as a career. I never sang in school or church, I never had any musical influences in my family and I never had any interest in playing any instruments, so I know this must be a gift from Jah.”
After leaving school IRATE found love and stability in Jah when in search for a new direction. In line with Rastafarian believes IRATE decided to grow his hair naturally, stopped eating meat, read the Bible more and tried to live a more conscious lifestyle in an effort to develop spiritually and mentally as a person. He developed an interest in guitars and ever since picking one up his life has not been the same. IRATE says “I felt I had lived my life aimlessly until this point…I had found my purpose. It wasn’t easy but through God’s will I eventually taught myself how to play the guitar. I read books, watched people who used to play, learned chords and progressions and stuff like that until I got it. I started writing songs and composing music for them.”
IRATE started his career by first playing at local poetry readings and in coffee shops. Eventually the young artiste felt the need to form a band so in 1998 he put a band together. The band consisted of a drummer, a bass player and two guitar players. The band, then called “Uprising Band” played a mixture of cover songs and originals. The first gig was at a local night club called “The Next Level” and other performances such as weekend gigs at a small club in downtown Nassau named “Mangoes” followed. The band also opened for a few local concerts including “Peace On The Streets” featuring Capleton, Junior Reed and Tanya Stephens in 1999 and “Lexxus Christmas Party” in 2001. Sadly, the band eventually fell apart due to lack of paid gigs and poor support of Bahamian artists from the local music industry.
In 2001, feeling discouraged but not defeated, guitarist Christophe Mitchell and IRATE left Nassau and went to Canada where his brother Craig Mitchell had recently opened his studio. They formed a group and called themselves “Jah Love Live” or “JLL” for short. For 5 months they continuously worked on an album and formed our own label named “Jah Love Live Productions.” The album, a mixture of hip hop and reggae music, was released under the title “Burn Babylon Burn”.
IRATE returned to Nassau to promote the album and it was released locally in November 2001. The first single released from the album was called “Keep The Joy.” We got a good response but unfortunately very little had changed in the music industry and there was still little support for Bahamian reggae artistes. IRATE took a break from the music for about 5 years but still never lost his love for and faith in music. He continued to play and write songs and eventually started performing again at a local place called “The Spot.”
As the years passed there was a noticeable change in the industry. Local artists got more exposure, more airtime and acknowledgement. It was time to continue where he had left off and with many songs collected over the years IRATE was ready to start over his career.
In 2008 IRATE met with a music promoter by the name of Trez Allen in Freeport, Grand Bahama and together they decided on the name IRATE. The artiste says “I told him everyone calls me I-Ray and he responded that I needed a name with more presence and listening to the words of my songs, sounding like I am vex with Babylon system I sounded upset, I sounded IRATE” IRATE is very concerned about the crime, corruption, murder, poverty and carelessness of our youth in the Bahamas . He feels that he can fight these things with God’s love through music. “In my heart I truly believe this is why Jah has blessed me with this gift, this is God’s purpose for my life.”
With the encouragement of Trez IRATE recorded his first single as a solo artist with hot shot producer Ashanti Carey. The name of the song was “Cyan Rule/Cyan Cool” and it was released in April of 2008. Five months later, he released the next single “I Believe” produced by Patrick ‘Dreddy Star’ Carey Jr. Shortly after, IRATE signed with the management group “Make ‘em Listen” run by Patricia Chatti. Since then IRATE has gotten a lot of support from people in the industry, radio stations and local dj’s. He has since performed at many local events ranging from concerts to night club performances. Recently, IRATE released his first music video for the single “I Believe” and he plans to take his music to an international level this year.
It has been a long journey for IRATE and it has not been easy. But now that he is on his musical trod again, he has no plans of stopping or quitting. With his sights set straight ahead and through the powers of The Most High Jah, IRATE hope to touch hearts.
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