More Than Four Decades In, Messenjah Sound as Urgent as Ever on New Single “No More”
45 years after they first plugged in, Messenjah is not slowing down, they are staking their claim as one of the most important bands Canadian music has ever produced. The group released “No More,” a bold, defiant new single that finds Canada’s reggae originators sounding as fierce and vital as they did the day they started, and demanding, once and for all, that the world take notice.
Formed in Kitchener, Ontario in 1981 by Rupert “Ojiji” Harvey and Errol “Skippah” Blackwood, Messenjah became the first Canadian reggae band ever signed to a major label, breaking down doors that had never been opened for the genre in this country. Their debut, ‘Rock You High,’ and its follow up, ‘Session,’ turned them into pioneers, and “Jam Session” became a bona fide national anthem. They performed at Jamaica’s legendary Reggae Sunsplash, appeared in the Hollywood film Cocktail, and in 1998 played for Nelson Mandela at Toronto’s SkyDome the same year they took home a Juno Award. Messenjah has spent more than four decades helping write the story of Canadian music.
“No More” picks up that legacy and pushes it forward with urgency. “No More shall we settle for less than the highest height, like a lion who trods in the darkest night, with no fear in our hearts cause we know Jah light,” the band declares, a lyric that reads like a mission statement for a group that refuses to be counted out. The chorus lands with the same unshakable resolve: “No More messing around, No More wearing no frown, No More believe in what they say, No More giving things away.” This is a band telling its truth loudly, on its own terms.
The song’s bridge names the band directly, and it carries the confidence of a group that knows exactly what it has built: “Messenjah flag bearer, storm and thunder society teacher, Messenjah truth giver, sent to Earth to set the people free ya.” It is a rare thing for a band to declare its own legend so plainly, and rarer still for that declaration to be earned. Messenjah has earned it.
Today’s lineup carries that legacy forward with founding member Rupert “Ojiji” Harvey still leading from the front, along with Carl “Carlos Bandana” Harvey of Toots and the Maytals on lead guitar, Charles “Tower” Sinclair on bass, Orville “Wyz” Malcolm on keyboards, and newest member Sammo “The Genius” on drums. “No More” was written by Harvey and composed alongside Malcolm and Sinclair, with Malcolm producing and Sinclair co producing, a full circle collaboration between musicians who have spent decades building this sound together.
Messenjah’s influence on Canadian music runs deep. They are the reason Canadian reggae broke through to mainstream radio in the first place, and every Canadian reggae act that has followed owes something to the road they paved. Warner Music Canada’s re release of the band’s classic catalogue introduced their music to new generations, and a 2014 reunion performance at a Toronto Bob Marley tribute confirmed the fire had never gone out. “No More” stands as the loudest confirmation yet that more than 40 years after their first note, Messenjah remains a working band, still writing, still performing, and still leading.
Now is the time for Messenjah to be recognized as one of reggae’s essential architects, active, urgent, and very much in command of their sound.
Hi, guys (Let me know who is doing this)! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
Rupert “Ojiji” Harvey’s words: When we first started, we were just a bunch of musicians getting together to play and enjoy our music and culture. We hadn’t thought of becoming a big touring act. Playing our first gig at the Waterloo Motor Inn, there was a disappointing turnout of about 20 or so people. They totally enjoyed the show and were cheering and screaming.
Due to the reaction, the promoter brought us back a couple of weeks later. When we pulled up, there was a line-up out to the parking lot. Mostly university students. The word had spread like wildfire from the few students that were at the first show.
We started taking ourselves seriously and thought if we recorded our first record locally, we would always be just a good local band. So we decided to go to California to record our first album, Rock You High.
After that, we were looked at as an international act. Warner heard the record and contacted us. They signed us to the label and reissued the album on their label. We realized from the beginning that we needed to leave here to be truly recognized as a serious band.
“No More” comes 45 years after you first plugged in, and it sounds as urgent as anything you’ve released. Was there a specific moment or frustration that sparked this particular song, something you felt you finally had to say?
No More is our expression after keen observations of where our world is going. It’s our warning to society to stand firmly on your ground if you want to see positive changes in this world.
So many things going on that we do not agree with. It’s almost like humanity has taken steps backwards.
It stops now! No More!
You performed at Reggae Sunsplash, appeared in Cocktail, and played for Nelson Mandela at SkyDome the same year you won a Juno. Of all of that, which moment actually felt the most significant to you while it was happening, not in hindsight?
It’s very hard to choose a specific show or experience as there were so many. For me personally, it would have to be returning to our homeland to perform in front of our people. Especially since we were in the land where this music came from.
To get great accolades from our people meant the world to us. But playing for Nelson Mandela equalled it for sure.
After 45 years, a Warner re-release of your catalogue, and a 2014 reunion that proved the fire hadn’t gone out, what does still being a working band mean to you now, and what’s left that Messenjah hasn’t done yet?
After coming back together, it was easy to see that the fires in our souls were still burning strong. It was what I’d call natural progression.
We just wanna see where it goes.
We are people with a solid connection to our Creator, so we trust where He leads us.
We are happy to simply be Messenjah’s.