INFLUENTIAL Nyahbinghi drummer Ras Michael says while he is pleased with the latest roots-reggae resurgence, he hopes its exponents honour the principles of their predecessors.

“The traditions of the people and history of wi culture must take root, because a lot of the elders from my time make the ultimate sacrifice for this culture to be established around the world. What’s going on now is strong but we need some togetherness and understanding,” he said.

RAS MICHAEL… elders from my time make the ultimate sacrifice for this culture to be established around the world

Ras Michael has lived in southern California for the last 20 years. For the past two months, he has been in Kingston performing alongside several contemporary Rasta acts including Chronixx, Jah9 and Jah Over Evil.

Some of those shows took place at Emancipation Park, Redbones Blues Café and the Twelve Tribes of Israel headquarters. Ras Michael likened the sense of awareness among neo-roots artists to the 1970s when many Jamaican youth were into black consciousness and positive messages.

“We just have to learn to be a little more inclusive, because that’s what His Majesty (Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I) wanted. So, even if a man don’t have dread pon him head him still have the Rasta concept an’ him striving for togetherness,” he said.

The latest wave of roots artists emerged three years ago with the most visible being singjay Protojé. Recently, the movement has gathered steam through solid live performances and recordings by Chronixx, Jah9, Iba Mahr, and Jesse Royal.

Born in St Mary but raised in west Kingston, Ras Michael was influenced by the traditional drumming and sounds of of Rasta elders like Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.

In the late 1960s, he formed the Sons of Negus and began working with some of roots-reggae’s top musicians and producers early in the next decade. Those collaborations resulted in seminal songs such as New Name and None a Jah Jah Children No Cry and the Dadawah album.