For multi-award winning singer/ songwriter, Ruth-Ann Brown, making Reggae music

was hardly a choice; it was something she could not run from. Their union has been as

fluent as the success she has experienced to-date. Since the release of her five-song

EP, RUTH, she has received two awards, been featured on Fox Network, interviewed

by several radio stations across the world and featured in and on the cover of several

print media. She has performed in and around Washington DC, sharing the stage with

Reggae icons such as Freddie McGregor, Beres Hammond, I-Wayne and Ky-Mani

Marley, just to name a few. Her performance at The Mansion at Strathmore in Maryland

was historic, as the first Reggae artiste to be invited to the prestigious venue. In January

of 2011 she sung the American National Anthem at a basketball game in Virginia, an

experience she describes as “an honor”.

Born in the mid 80’s in Jamaica, she was surrounded by the influences of dancehall

veterans such as King Yellowman, Josie Wales and Jacob Miller. “Instead of going to

sleep, as soon as my mother put me to bed as a young child, I would listen to the sound

system playing across the street from my house until I fell asleep. Reggae was like a

drug. I couldn’t get enough,” she recalls.

As an adolescent, she enjoyed singing in the church choir and writing poems to express

her pent-up emotions. By the time she became a young adult, her experimenting

involved writing songs to instrumentals. In late 2005 her first single, ‘As It Is’, was

released on the Di-Mon Cut label. This marked her entry into the music business. From

then she has honed her art. “I can’t imagine music without emotions. When I make

music, I want people to feel it as much as I do, so I try to connect with my emotions

and release them into my work. When I touch the lives of others, only then will I be

successful as an artiste”, explained Brown.

Renowned music critic and writer, Stan Smith, describes her music as being, full of

“thought-provoking lyrics, which are emotionally enraptured and sometimes easy going

[and they] make her songs easy to digest”. Her music has also been described as soul-

touching, passionate, intense, yet smooth, relaxing, tropical and warm. Roxroy McLean

says in the Jamaican Sunday Gleaner, “What’s intriguing is that she approaches each

topic with the same passion and zeal, which makes her stand out…” Brown credits

Dennis Brown, The Cranberries and Sade as her greatest musical influences.

In 2007 she was introduced to Rhoan Bromfield, owner and CEO of Bran-Nu

Entertainment (BNE). She says this of the strong union they formed: “I have found

something most artistes only dream of,” she explained with a smile, “Working with a

label that gives me my creative freedom and gives me much needed guidance in a cut-

throat industry is a fairytale. Without them, I would be a headless chicken. Furthermore,

they believe what I believe where making rich, cultural Reggae music is concerned – it

is live music and we will not take the digital route.”

BNE has been a strong driving force in exposing Reggae music to unconventional

markets, secure licensing deals with several airlines including Air France, a Kenyan

airline and an Austrian airline. Presently they are strategically building a catalogue of

songs for Brown’s much-anticipated debut album. The first release was a five-song EP,

entitled RUTH, which is available on iTunes and Amazon. It consists of a smooth, yet

intense flute-driven single, “Unfamiliar Feelings”, which has received tremendous airplay

worldwide. The accompanying music video sat at the top position on several music

charts in Jamaica. There are also more traditional drum and bass driven singles such as

“Chillin’ with My Baby” and “I Love You”, as well as the acoustic numbers “Here Come

the Critics” and “Jamdown”. In a review of the EP, RUTH, entertainment writer, Joseph

Tortelli says, “Ruth-Ann Brown’s five-song EP expands and enriches preconceived

notions about reggae artistes. The Jamaican singer-songwriter blends pop, soul, and

acoustic stylings into her reggae-rooted compositions… Digging deeply into Reggae’s

emotional power, these tracks unveil an expressive singer-songwriter with distinctive

blue-beat pipes.”

In May 2012, the EP, RUTH earned two awards at the 15th Annual Washington

DC Reggae Music Awards for Best Reggae Recording and Best Female Reggae

Recording. Brown also performed on the renowned FOX Network where she sang “Any

Day Now” and “Unfamiliar Feelings” to aprox one million viewers. BNE are confident

of the bright future ahead of her. “With the help of BNE and with Ric Zheron as my

greatest support, I am looking forward to a long-lasting, meaningful career”, she said

optimistically.

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