St. Kitts Music Festival artiste: Burning Spear

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – GRACING the stage of the annual St. Kitts Music Festival for the second time is none other than the ‘rasta guardian’, Winston Rodney, popularly known as Burning Spear.

For more than 35 years, Burning Spear's music and life have inspired people on numerous continents. Since the beginning, his songs have implored listeners to fight oppression in all its forms, to work at improving their own condition and to consider the social impact of their actions.

He has been nominated for 12 Grammys and won the Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album in 2000 for ‘Calling Rastafari’ and one in 2009 for ‘Jah Is Real’. 

His music is mainly the roots reggae and he is popularly known for his Rastafari movement.

Rodney was born in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, as were Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey who both had a great influence on his life.
Garvey influenced Rodney with his philosophy while Marley directly helped Rodney get started in the music industry by introducing him to Clement Dodd.

Dodd was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 60s and beyond.
The name Burning Spear was chosen by Rodney for the group he formed and came from the name of the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.

The group initially included bass singer Rupert Willington, later expanding to include tenor Delroy Hinds. As fame took hold, the name of the group gradually became synonymous with Rodney.

Burning Spear is one of the strongest proponents of Marcus Garvey's self-determination and self-reliance for all African descendants, thus leading to several album releases in commemoration of the Jamaican activist.

In 2002, Rodney and his wife, Sonia Rodney who has produced a number of his albums, founded Burning Spear Record.

“A lot of artistes just have no time to really look within the business section of the music business," Rodney stated in his biography. "There's no one to really sit them down and give them some of that business understanding before they get into what they get into. So then people walk all over these artistes and do things where it's not appropriate, and it's not right. It's not in the artiste's love."

Rodney advocates messages of honesty, peace, and love, which tie in with his social and religious messages of Rastafari and black unity. Along with his musical message, the Spear continues to tour all over the world. His concerts often last two hours long with several bongo drum solos by Burning Spear himself.

With years of experience, Rodney’s mission remains unchanged today though the act and the music have undergone some alterations. The duo grew into a trio, but has long since morphed into Burning Spear, a solo artiste. And while his music has always been a vehicle for social change, his songs are now increasingly melodic, developed with catchy hooks that use short phrases and point more subtly to internal truths for those willing to go through self-exploration.

Some of his popular music includes ‘Door Deep’, ‘African Postman’, ‘Black Wa dada’, ‘Civilies Reggae’, ‘Gi Dem’, ‘Walk’ and ‘Slavery Days’.