Dancehall artiste Pharaoh is generating a buzz with the risque ‘Want Some a Yu Ting’ since its release on various online platforms.
“I leased the rhythm from an online platform, and it a warm up the street right now, and it’s getting play on IRIE, ZIP, Mello and FAME. The song got a big forward at Uptown Mondays the other day, the fans dem love the momentum, the image, the vocals, the song, so right now, we ah tek it to them,” Pharaoh, whose real name is Rayon Robinson, said.
The song was released earlier this month on the Pharaoh Dynasty label via all downloadable digital music platforms.
The Pharaoh wants to correct what he dubs the “echo chamber” effect that currently dominates dancehall with its glut of songs that extol the virtues of ‘badness’ and toxic masculinity.
“I see music as an expression of the soul, there is no limit to my self-expression. Energy mi a work with, especially when mi inna Gadd mode. I want to bring back the potency back to dancehall with properly produced songs about engaging social topics, instead of the same old same old,” he said.
Pharaoh experiments with several genres of music including R & B, Afrobeats, as well as dancehall and reggae.
“I am the authentic dancehall Pharaoh, true reggae royalty,” he said.
The artiste grew up in Amity Hall district in St. Thomas, but spent time between Tel A Viv with his father and Retreat in St. Thomas when his parents split. At the tender age of 5, he knew that he wanted to be singer or an actor. During his teenage years, he began experimenting with dancehall.
“I wrote my first song when I suffered my first heartbreak when I was in grade 5. Since that time, I have written hundreds of songs,” he said.
After graduating from Happy Grove High, he landed a job with John Swaby Entertainment, a production company that deals with lighting and sound for live entertainment events. He worked at several major stage shows such as Sting, Sumfest, Pepsi Teen Splash and Jazz and Blues.
“Entertainment was just part of my DNA . I’ve done ventures such as a restaurant in Negril, but I always return to the music,” he said.
He did his first song, a reggae song called ‘Black Woman: Mother of Creation’ in Negril, Westmoreland in 2001, when he was still known as ‘Ice’ by his friends.
“At the time, my friends would call me Ice, but as time went along, I realized there were too many Ices in entertainment, too many kings, too many Gadds, so I chose Pharaoh,” he said.
He migrated overseas to the USA in 2014 where he began to groom himself in that ‘pharaoh’ image, even growing a beard and began a strenuous health and fitness regimen to ready himself for the rigours of dancehall.
The self-described perfectionist spent several hours working assiduously on his craft, honing his vocals, and fine-tuning his delivery and stage performance.
“Now, I feel I am ready, fully confident, I am fully ready to conquer the globe,” he said.
There are plans to release a 7 song hardcore dancehall EP this Summer. He is managed by the US-based management company, Pharaoh Dynasty Entertainment.
