Tarrus offers Healing amidst lockdown.

Tarrus Riley, like many other reggae/dancehall luminaries, has given us an impressive catalogue of solid, timely hits. The way we consume music in this new era of streams and plays fosters an insatiable pace for releasing music. Yet even amidst this rapid tumultuous shift to digital, Tarrus, son of Jimmy Riley, has not just kept pace but also represented the contemporary music space in Jamaica through hit singles. It is a commendable feat for an artist to remain consistent and also best themselves with each effort, for such a prolonged period without the help of an album. For Tarrus Riley, it’s been six years since the release of his Love Situations album and he has continued to raise the bar since then. This new release, Healing comes at a much needed time, with the aim of helping people through the pandemic. When I caught up with Tarrus on the set of his upcoming Babylon Warfare music video featuring Teejay, he was in good spirits.

It’s been six years since you’ve announced a body of work. Why now?

Why not? [Laugh] Why not? We have music, we have the vibes. You know we’re not touring as much or travelling as much so why not? It’s a good time.

When you think about the timespan between albums, two or three years max, this latest album has a six year space, which is a long wait. What inspired that?

Well it’s not really a long wait, remember I haven’t been quiet for six years. I’ve been making hit songs but album releases are just like different business situations sometimes y’knw so that is why albums are different.

I wanted to get into that because you haven’t necessarily put out music in a good while but you maintain a presence. Aside from the features or the hit singles you release, some of your older songs have aged really well and have vitality well into even this era. So what is your philosophy on that, even in terms of Jamaica being a more single driven country and how does that affect you deciding the timing of your releases?

I don’t really have no great philosophy with that. It’s just when music feel nice you just do it. Albums like I said are a big thing but sometimes you make a lot of music and you don’t really get to release it but this one. Why now? It’s an album about what’s going on right now. Healing right now. So it’s actually the first album I’ve done in real time, because there is a lot of music out there that I’ve been a part of [that come out long after they’re made]. But we just make music, and we make the music to last the test of time. So that’s why we can have songs from Parables, Contagious, Love Situations album, songs that are relevant today. Lion Paw, Superman, Simple Things Are The Blessings, Never leave I, all of them grew with me.

It’s like the more time passes the better they age.

I think the message causes that too.

For sure, your message has remained consistent. Some of the lyrics are still relevant and I find that a lot of that stems from your beliefs or your faith and your identity.

Absolutely.

Can you speak on that and why there’s such a close relationship between your faith, your identity and your music?

Well a man without faith is like a tree without roots. The prophets said that before I. I can’t take credit for it, it’s something that my mother and my father instilled in me. Then different from that we hold steadfast to Marcus Garvey teachings, and those types of men- and I could give you names from now until morning as you can hear in Shaka Zulu pickney. But that is how I think for real so that is what you get in my music. So when you hear me talk about the microchip or something else, a lot of it is rastaman teachings, traditions that we grow with. A lot of the message in the music is things we learned, heard about or experienced. Sometimes a man don’t understand a song until he has the experience too. It’s not my own knowledge, we don’t know anything when we come into the world, we know certain things and we lean to for strength and so we want people to feel that strength too so we give it to them[through the music].

You seem like one of those artists that take responsibility for what you’re saying.

Yeah definitely. Just because, I think it’s important to be responsible for whatever you do, so I don’t want to say something and then tomorrow I hide from it. One of my most popular songs, is a song that says “it’s my day to do anything I want to, and I’m responsible for every action,” it don’t really rhyme yknow? But it’s a thing I wanted to say. That means if I curse a bad word right now and I was vex, mi nuh haffi beg nuh body nothing, no I was upset and I cursed- If I do something I can be responsible for what I do. So that’s cool.

That’s interesting because even the idea taking responsibility for your actions-

That’s what a Man does.

Yes exactly it’s mature male psychology. Something that for us men especially in the african communities, is ingrained in us through some kind of initiation. Some kind of passing a threshold that could symbolize the passing of the mind from child to adult. We often learn through our fathers who either creates that initiatory event, causes it through trauma or absence, and then also by the archetypal group of men who takes the boy away from his mother to be taught what real manhood means. Can you describe your experience growing up in Rastafari and how that has impacted how you approach your music and messaging?

Once again we are born into a world not knowing anything. So Rastafari teachings showed us that his majesty is there and there is a lot to read and learn from. Then there’s my mother and father like I said who helped to instill certain things. But musically you had men like Dean fraser who we watched see how they take rehearsal seriously. So it’s the same thing, your mother teaches you how to take school work seriously, and when you go into the music world you going to take music seriously. Because you learned to be serious when it’s a serious time. It’s just that kind of teaching I got. Some people lean into it and some run from it, but I through experience, see what taking something serious can do. I tested it for myself and me see how it goes. That being said, no man is perfect and life is nice you have to just don’t be afraid to experience it. That’s all you can really do with it, you can only experience it. So sometimes you will walk and you may fall but at least you had the experience so you know not to walk there again. But just don’t forget the things you learn as you go along. So that is the whole ting.

You’ve managed to maintain relevance through the most Jamaican way, hit singles. But How do you feel about when you decide to put out music especially in relation to how you feel about Jamaican music.?

I love it. I love it. The single thing is a thing that is necessary and juggling, all of it is a part of our culture. But we take it for granted until we feel it. I don’t really want to look at it like I’m chasing relevance. I am relevant and I’m a today person living in today’s world, hence I’m singing about healing, and Healing is about right now. But it’s not a strategy to remain relevant, I’m just relevant, I pay attention to the news, I’m in tuned with what’s going on. So remaining relevant is just that. The people I look up to like Bruce Lee, their teachings are always relevant so I try to maintain that kind of message.

Your tunes tend to have a more musical quality than a lot of reggae dancehall artists.

Don’t say that.

Instrumentation wise. It tends to kind of lean more to instruments. Is that intentional or is just a result of growing up in music?

It’s just what we’re doing now. I love instruments, I play instruments, so we put that in the music. But perhaps as we grow further you will hear different sounds, because we’re always experimenting with music. That’s why I said don’t say that. Because sometimes you just need an instrument for that. So what I’m trying to be is free, a fearless creative. I want to just make music as I feel it. The world has a lot of bias and chains and class and boundaries, mi need to get free inna music. I want all music, once it name music a me dat.

I get the sense that that’s why you’re still very much present and relevant.

Give thanks but yea I want all music. See right now we’re on set filing for a song name Babylon Warfare with me and Teejay, roughest ting. I want you to listen to it because you nah go hear Teejay like that and them youth deh a some bad bad artist, but you only hear their style. It’s on the album, Dean fraser singing the hook, with Teejay and Tarrus Riley. It’s called Babylon Warfare and the song explain itself. The first line I say “ The whole world shut down C-19 bad dem up.” and Dean is saying “Racial war in babylon, political war, physical war, spiritual war.” Is a whole heap a different war going on right now, so we’re just documenting the time right now. Hence why Healing is about what’s happening right now. It’s the soundtrack to the times.