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The Spirit of Mutabaruka
An exclusive telephone conversation with Mutabaruka at 6:00
AM.
Interviewer: Nicole James.
NuB: At the African Street Festival in July...
Muta: African Street Festival?
NuB: In July [1997] in New York?
Muta: Oh, were you there?
NuB: I wasn't there myself. I was traveling in St. Vincent but we had NuBeing people there. You spoke strongly about rastas in Jamaica and rastas living in Babylon. Can you tell us more about the difference or what the difference is?
Muta: Well, rastas leave Jamaica and a lot get caught up in a drug lifestyle and en'up in jail. Or they try to get enough money to go home and en'up staying for years, tryin' to get back. The Jamaican environment is very different, especially in the country, in the rural areas. Moving from Jamaica to Brooklyn is like moving from Heaven to Hell.
NuB: I think a lot of rastas that leave Jamaica are not prepared for what they will experience abroad. What guidance can you offer to Rastafari living in different parts of the world?
Muta: Well, why did they leave? Why did they leave Jamaica? I think they are really looking for that pie-in-the-sky. It is better to suffer in your own country than to suffer in another man's country. They have to turn around and ask themselves, Why did I leave Jamaica? What was I looking for? Rastas speak of going to Africa but they end up in America.
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NuB: When you say rastas want to go to Africa, do you mean all rastas or a specific set of rastas like 12 Tribes or Nyabinge...?
Muta: Dreads, dreads always speak of it. Most reggae artists talk about "Africa, Africa," but they have the money and have never been to Africa, spent even a weekend in Africa. They fly to New York and spend weeks there with their friends or in Europe. They get on stage and say "African is this and Africa is like that" but they have not spent their money to just go to a hotel even for the weekend and experience Africa.
NuB: Speaking about travelling, what different places have you been and what has the response to your message been like in these places?
Muta: I've been everywhere. I can't hardly think of anywhere that I haven't been. It's easier for me to say "I haven't been to China" and "I haven't been to Iceland." I've been doing a lot of tours of Europe. The Europeans are more receptive, probably because the French and English are the main colonizers of Africa. If you're an English-speaking Continental African, you try to get to Britain and if you're a French-speaking Continental African, you try to get to France. We've been all over in America. The American whites are probably the most harrogant people...
NuB: They're what?
Muta: Harrogant! They believe that everyt'ing begins and ends in America.
NuB: Do you find it strange that you have such a strong white following?
Muta: I don't find it strange. When Bob Marley was singing, Black people were not receptive until very recently. And when the music changed to dancehall, which is the crazy version of the music, Black people became very interested. All of Bob Marley's audiences were white, Burning Spear shows, Saliv Cato (sic). You look out into the audience and you hope to see more Black people. I mean, here is this music that is made for Black people. I think that Black Americans have been brainwashed into seeing only Black America. If it's not R&B or rap, they think it's foreign. When Continental Africans come to perform, it is mostly white audiences that they are performing to. Young Black people do not come out for this music, for African or reggae music. And that is unfortunate...
For the complete interview, including Mutabaruka's take on diet and on reclaiming our spirit, click here to contact NuBeing International.