Pop maestro horn ‘amazed’ by CBE
Ninjah
Image by Walt Jabsco
Ninjah
From his myspace site…..
"Many have come before him; every city has their own. From Jesus of Nazareth to Waco’s David Koresh, prophets and preachers walk the land amongst us, their presence felt at important times in the history of mankind. Step to a long imposing figure, descending from the top a tree in Cardiff sometime in the late twentieth century, dressed in Speedos and a snorkel, armed with drumsticks and a beat box and tales of a new order. Sound like a fucking nutter, right? Welcome to the world of Ninjah. Whether it’s because he’s rocking a Cleopatra head-dress, because he’s drumming on the bins at 5 in the morning, or because he’s accosting people in the street, rapping about lions or giving lectures about love making, it’s clear from the first encounter that there is something not of the ordinary about Ninjah. Standing at a mighty 6"4′ of pure dreadlock and sinew, Ninjah is every bit an intoxicating raggae preacher-man. Born in Jamaica in the not too distant past and the not too recent future, the seeds of his vocation were sown. His father was legendary reggae trombonist Ronald Wilson, Studio One collaborator of Prince Buster, King Tubby and U Roy amongst many others, which is where Mr. Jones’s love of music, and in particular the reggae rhythms, comes from. His parents separated when Ninjah was seven and he moved to the UK with his mother; settling in Birmingham, whilst his father left for New York, becoming a music teacher in Queens. The young Ninjah would bring visit his father in the school holidays, engrossed by the jazz and the burgeoning hip hop scenes in the borough. Always enchanted by his mother’s tales of a Welsh heritage on her side. Ninjah moved to Cardiff as a defender of his brethren after watching Cilla take the piss out of a Porthcawl girl on a Blind Date show one night, a role he carries forward each day he steps our onto his streets. From his humble start living in the aforementioned tree, Ninjah quickly established himself as part of the landscape of the city with his freestyles and rants over his battery powered beat box. This is what led him to collaborate with producer Frank Naughton (of Rocket Goldstar and Spiritualized renown) who spotted Ninjah toasting one night in the city and approached him about making an album. Each and every Thursday, Ninjah would (and continues to) turn up at Frank’s house at precisely 10am to start work on a track. Frank would have no idea what Ninjah would want to do that day, leaving it up to the emcee to arrive with a head full of rhymes and insight around which Frank would construct the music from his ensemble of vintage synths, guitars and effects pedals. With Frank at the reins to pull Ninjah’s bewildering thoughts into something coherent, the result is an album of drop-dead beats and hooks, veering from rational dancehall and dub through to contemporary hip-hop breaks via every off-beat alleyway of Ninjah’s non-linear mind. His majestic flow sits beautifully on top; a king surveying his people. From debut album ‘I Bless The Day I Found You’, enjoy a selection of Ninjah’s efforts here. Yes, enjoy them, and then purchase from any decent record store or via the Boobytrap website. Ladies and gentlemen, Ninjah…"
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