Artist bio
Artist statement
Artist resume
Rayay is the originator of the Island Afro genre, a fusion of the Island Pop and Afrobeats, which happened to surface simultaneously along with The Taste Of Afrika Fiesta Tour.
Being born in Curaçao, an Island in the South Caribbean, exposed him to different styles of music and languages which all become recognizable in the Island Afro mix.
Born on April 12 1983 in Willemstad, Curaçao, under the name of
Rashid Hakeem Ulrich Clemencia
from the parents Marie Clemencia
and Hermes Aniceta and later adopted as
Rashid Salsbach by musician stepfather
Carlos Salsbach, helped him get well acquainted with an array of genres which later would be used in the unification genre called Island-Afro.
Rayay started writing and performing songs at the age of 16 as a part of a rap group called T.G.S. after winning contests and performing on a big stage in the capital of his Island of Curaçao called Willemstad he then appeared on the super producer/rapper Don Classico’s highly acclaimed mixtape called Paranoid Mixtape which gave a whoRAYAY,S PROFILE ,ARTIST BASED IN CURACAO ISLAND SOUTH CARIBBEAN.le new spin to the hip hop music scene on the A-B-C Islands.
The A-B-C Islands being
Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, which all three happen to speak the same language
called Papiamentu.
The language could be considered a middle ground between the African and European languages.
After writing songs in English and Papiamentu with forerunners like Jur, Billy, Vin, Truge and Kabalachi,Rayay got to appear on his fellow T.G.S. member Oz’s debut album titled Dr Anders, which became such a commercial success that it lead to the whole Mastermind Productions team (now a label formed by business partners Don Classico and DJ Dirty Omi) to travel back and forth recording and touring between the Caribbean and Europe.
Further more Rayay’s music has been heavily influenced by pioneers with caribbean roots like DJ Kool Herc(Jamaica) and Grand Master Flash(Barbados) whom gave birth to the Hip Hop culture in New York and later on by other great artiste with Curaçao heritage like Jim Jones, Tory Lanez and last but not least the Queen of Salsa and Latin Music in general, the late great Celia Cruz, who’s father shares “The Island with the best natural harbour” as birthplace with Rayay.
On the A-B-C Islands people generally speak 4 languages.
These being Papiamentu, (the native language), English, Dutch and Spanish.
Because Curaçao was the main port for African descendants from all the African countries outside of the African continent for ages, it became a melting pot of cultures thus the perfect representative of the Island-African sound.
When Rayay was growing up he desired to once have a great impact on a genre and the ones he was listening to were doing just that.
The acts dominating the airwaves at the time were;Michael Jackson(USA), Bob Marley(Jamaica), Celia Cruz(Cuba/Curaçao), DJ Chombo(Panama), Tego Calderon(Puerto Rico), Kassav(various countries), Alpha Blondy(Ivory Coast), Lucky Dube(South Africa) and the Afro-Beat originator Fela Kuti(Nigeria).
Because music was devided by languages Island-Afro had to come and make it possible that someone from Brazil and someone from Cote d’Ivoir could stand side by side sing and recognize their language in that same song.
The artist Rayay who is a singer/song writer says:“We have to look at Island-Afro as the internet for our music-genres and languages, it’s task is to connect us with each other”
On the debut album titled: Sabaean star,
Rayay sings,raps and chants his way through the 12 song/video narative of Island-Afro in a way you will experience;dancing, modeling and lounging all while traveling to different sandy beaches in the South Caribbean.
The vibes are completed when artiste like; Cea, Talysha, Maiky and Celia Cruz’s nephew Buchi Brown join in, while Beatmakers like Ed Owusu, Don Classico and Truge bring you what’s hot.
Also it was Victor Lawton(Jamaica/USA) from Vic Law Entertainment and Law Music Records that teamed up with Tengol Kplemani(Ghana) and premiered the Island-Afro sound on The Taste Of Afrika Fiesta Tour on a global stage and it was DJ Pilot BlackShape the President of Vic Law Production from Galaxy Radio in Sierra Leone West Africa in charge of the promotions that released it to the streets of Freetown first and after that it has spread like wildfire.
For more info visit
www.thetasteofafrika.com
For bookings you can contact us on instagram
@rayay_official
or via email at:
rayayofficial.info@gmail.com
