For over a decade, Peetah's distinctive voice has led Morgan Heritage on some of the biggest anthems in modern roots-reggae, including Don't Haffi Dread (To Be Rasta), Down by the River and She's Still Loving Me. But in the chest of this Rastaman beats a heart of soul. The charismatic vocalist says he listened to everything from the 1970s soul of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway to the New Jack swing of Guy and gangsta rap of Dr. Dre, when he was growing up in Brooklyn, New York. ...show more

For over a decade, Peetah's distinctive voice has led Morgan Heritage on some of the biggest anthems in modern roots-reggae, including Don't Haffi Dread (To Be Rasta), Down by the River and She's Still Loving Me. But in the chest of this Rastaman beats a heart of soul. The charismatic vocalist says he listened to everything from the 1970s soul of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway to the New Jack swing of Guy and gangsta rap of Dr. Dre, when he was growing up in Brooklyn, New York.

Now, he gets the chance to play out those influences on his first full-scale solo project. "It was nothing planned. We got a call from (producer) Salaam Remi last year about Gramps, Mojo and myself doing individual songs for an album he was doing," Peetah explained. "The song I did (Salute Them) came out so well; I just got to thinking about doing something for myself." That 'something' is totally different from the rootsy songs 'Heritage' have belted out since the late 1990s, making them household names among reggae fans in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

"It's going to be more hip-hop and dancehall with some R&B overtones," Peetah said. Peetah worked with Shane Brown of Juke Boxx Productions on most of the songs, one of which includes the world beat-ish Save The World which gained steady airplay on Jamaican radio. Brown, one of reggae's upcoming producers, is best known for his work with Chuck Fenda, Busy Signal, Mavado and Morgan Heritage. The two plan to complete as many as forty songs by the end of February, 2009. ...show less