This past fall, as part of our Women In Reggae series, Rootfire published an article about Maddie Ruthless, alluring frontwoman for The Far East, a Brooklyn-based reggae band with a raw, throwback sound. During the interview, when asked about her aspirations for her band, Ruthless said, “The goal is to write and record the baddest riddims possible and watch Babylon tumble from the weight of pure bass.”… album-premiere/" class="read-more">Read More
Writer Sehmaj Surreal describes Rootfire as “an antenna for the right people to connect with the right people, about the right things.” Depending on which lens you are looking through, the idea may be ambitious or ambiguous. It is with Surreal’s sentiment in mind that Rootfire shares ideas, in hopes that we will all be brought closer to the people we should connect with and vice versa.… Read More
Welcome to the Rootifre Rewind podcast! Hosted by our editor, Dave Shiffman, the Rootfire Rewind podcast will revisit editorial content from over the years to deliver it in a fresh new format. Listen to the music, learn about the artists you love, and discover new ones.… Read More
Win a vinyl copy of Rebirth Of The Cool Ruler, a 15-track excursion into the late reggae singer Gregory Isaacs’ late 80s/early 90s catalog with producer King Jammy, featuring a host of top contemporary artists singing alongside the ‘Cool Ruler.’
Feature artists include Shaggy, Sean Paul, Bounty Killer, Junior Reid, Chaka Demus, Alborosie, Bunny General, and Ras Shiloh and current artists Jesse Royal, Projexx, Aza Lineage, Ras Demo, Brandon The Messenjah, Claire Angel, and Flinix.… Read More
I want to kill you, but I’m not allowed, at least not right now
I want to kill you, so you’d best watch out when the shit goes down
– The Slackers “Kill You”
In March of 2022, Rootfire premiered a track titled “Hanging On” from The Slackers then forthcoming album, Don’t Let the Sunlight Fool Ya, one of their finest from an impressive catalog that spans over thirty years.… Read More
“I don’t want to be a pale imitation of the music from Jamaica I love so deeply, and I will forever be the student of it. I will never graduate from this school. I have not experienced the struggle that this music was born from first hand.… Read More
Photo credit: @eyereeimages
What were most of us doing at the age of ten? I know I wasn’t doing anything too impressive.
In 2021, when Kailash Brumwell was ten, he was already making big moves in the reggae scene. He first made a name for himself by posting masterful covers of reggae songs to YouTube, which showcased his clean and precise vocals.… Read More
On a Saturday evening back in late October, I made my way to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn for a much-anticipated reggae show featuring The Bandulus and Uzimon. For those unfamiliar, Uzimon is a Bermuda-born, Brooklyn-based international reggae superstar specializing in dancehall, rub-a-dub and rocksteady known to kill men with lyrical bullets, but we will delve into his story some other time.… Read More
