Ras-I pours out his ‘Heart of Love’

With today being Mother's Day, singer Ras-I will do what he always does on this special day: he will ensure that his mother, Lorna Wainwright, is pampered. But truth be told, making her feel special is simply a natural, everyday vibration for the entertainer, who has made huge strides in the music business since his debut album, Tsojourna, was released in November 2019. Throughout his career, his mother has been his biggest cheerleader, and they share an unbreakable bond.

"I'm just going to get some food and [substance] for my mother, and we a go par. That's what we do. A mi 'G' like that, enuh," Ras-I told The Sunday Gleaner last Thursday at the launch of his newest album, Heart of Love.

"We spend Mother's Day doing simple, everyday things. That's one day [that] I don't take calls ... yeah, my manager doesn't call me on Mother's Day. I might even take my mother to the To Mom with Love concert with Third World and Marcia Griffiths and Nesta dem," added the Rastafarian troubadour, whose given name is Immanuel Kerr.

Lorna Wainwright, who has been involved in the music business for decades and has strong ties to Tuff Gong, was asked to describe her son in three words.

"Militant, genuine, and caring," the mother of Ras-I said without hesitation.

Sharing how she manages to maintain such a close relationship with her son, Wainwright got straight to the heart of the matter. "As Rastafarians, we maintain a loving household," she told The Sunday Gleaner. 

Reflecting on Ras-I's career, Wainwright shared a personal "proudest moment".

"It was at Earth Hour when he spoke about my illness. Hear My Call is his prayer," she said, adding that her earliest memory of him performing on a big stage was at Capleton's annual concert, A St Mary Mi Come From. 

With such a strong, love-filled foundation, it is not far-fetched to say that Ras-I's Heart of Love is an album that could easily write itself, and the language of love is important on many levels. Unlike English, the Greek language is quite precise as it relates to love, and there are at least four words that describe the different types of love, namely, agape, eros, philia, and storge. On the 13-track Heart of Love, Ras-I unapologetically taps into the whole gamut and brews a potion that is spellbinding. He doesn't pretend. He is simply a musician who is dedicated to his craft and is ready to deliver a potent mix of roots with a refreshing sound to soothe the soul. That is his prescription on his “love letter to the music”.

On Thursday, he spoke candidly about the making of Heart of Love, which he has been "working on since COVID", and he shared a moment with the intimate gathering of friends and media at Anchor Recording Studio. When he first listened to one of the riddims, he asked the producer to give it to him, but his friend had other ideas.

"Shortman seh 'No Ras-I … is a gospel tune mi waan put pon it. Mi seh 'Alright mi G.' One week later mi see him and seh 'Yuh get di gospel tune yet?'" he said to laughter.

Well, Shortman gave him the riddim and "a di first riddim mi ever get and mi jus a listen to it and it mek mi start bawl".  

“Don’t tell anybody mi seh dat,” he cautioned.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, he wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Heart of Love is just my piece of love that I am giving to the universe through music, which is our means of communication. But we are talking about love not only in the intimate sense, but also love for self, love for community, love for the Almighty. I think a lot of people have lost that feel for love. We live in a world that is very harsh … energy nuh really right, so we a try our best to lift it,” Ras-I said.

Set to be released on May 15, the album sees collaborations with Kabaka Pyramid, Khalia, Nesta, Govana, as well as musicians from the Compound Family, the Dub Squad Family, and the Revelation family. Heart of Love is produced by Keneil Jones, as well as JLL, the Alpha family, and Ras-I.

“It’s a team effort. It’s the same team as before … we just link up again and allot new layers. It’s the same formula as before. I don’t want to call it a comfort zone because yuh kinda get complacent with that. We just find we footing, and it’s just now for us to make strides in the lane that we carve out,” he said.

With a laugh, he named “the ladies” first on his target audience list for this love project, but overall, Heart of Love is for “anybody who love reggae music and love feel-good music”.

Among the 13 tracks is a song titled Forever and Always, which sits neatly in a lovers' rock groove, reminiscent of the greats who did it, such as Alton Ellis. 

“Dem man deh definitely inspire that tune. Mi love lovers’ rock … people like Alton, Dennis [Brown], Bitty McLean. And on that track, we worked some real vocal expression that I have never really done before,” Ras-I shared, acknowledging that lyrically and artistically, he has grown.

His ultimate goal for Heart of Love on a commercial level is not necessarily a Grammy but entry on the Billboard charts.

“If mi can get one or two Billboard Top 20, I’d be ecstatic. A Grammy is good, but some people might have a Grammy but might not have a hit song. So I want to have songs that can increase my value … and then the Grammy can add to it. To break into the Caribbean market is one of my greatest aims. I want to show them that we don’t always have to go to Europe. I just want people to fall in love with reggae music. Mi waan people seh ‘Wow! This have a classic feel, but it also have a reggae feel’.”

 

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Ras-IMotherDay08052026C00002: Ras-I speaks warmly about his deep bond with his mother.

Ras-IMotherDay08052026C00001: Ras-I (left) and his mother, Lorna Wainwright. 

Copy of Ras0IHeartOfLove06052026AL00006: Roots-reggae artiste Ras-I was overjoyed at the intimate listening session held on Thursday at Anchor Recording Studio for his upcoming album, ‘Heart of Love’.