Christafari fuses religion and reggae
Musical groups around the Caribbean have always been popular in Belize, but the one that arrived today is expected to draw two distinct groups of fans that are often not seen at the same venue. We caught up with Christafari as they landed at the airport.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Christian music no longer consists solely of songs written centuries ago and sung solemnly in a church. Christafari, a popular evangelical group with reggae vibes has come to Belize to spread the word of God as well as to show us that Christians also love a good dance hall tune.
Mark Mohr, Lead Vocals, Christafari
“Christafari is in Belize, finally after a lot of waiting we’re ready to not rock the house, but reggae the house with some sanctified dancehall, roots music and just to see some lives transform.”
Jose Sanchez
“How did you make the leap and fuse reggae with Christianity?”
Mark Mohr
“Well it was born in Christian church, so it was natural to take it back there. Sure it strayed away and Rastafarianism was slackness and gun talk, but it’s time we bring the youths of this generation, of each culture and stray them away from those things and bring them towards the light, towards the truth, give them hope instead of destruction.”
Anthony Case, Guitar, Christafari
“Christafari is really one of the original pioneers in Christian reggae music. So that’s one thing of note. Another thing is the continual evolvement of Christafari from where it had been to where it is, the continual refinement and pushing new styles and innovative reggae music.”
Christafari will not be the only group on hand, Belize’s very own D-Revelation will join them on stage at Friday and Saturday’s performance.
Luis Wade, Lead Singer, D-Revelation
“The name of this concert tour is Word, Sound, and Power. It put together Christafari, which is the number one Christian group in regards to reggae in the world. They are also of course one of the top ten reggae bands in the world and of course Belize’s very own D-Revelation. So they get some local stuff and international stuff, and of course Christafari will be taking the main stage.”
Vanessa Mohr, Background Vocals, Christafari
“What I bring to the group is probably a little bit of femininity to the group. It’s not hard being the only girl because these guys are really great. It’s like touring with your brothers so it’s not hard at all. We all get along, there’s great unity and great harmony in the band and I think that makes a huge difference.”
Jose Sanchez
“So what do you bring to the Belizean public?”
Vanessa Mohr
“That’s a good question. Hopefully some creativity, some excitement, some movement, some dance, and we’ll see from there.”
The show will definitely be the hottest Christian concert ever to hit Belize, but even with reaching number nine on the Billboard’s top ten Reggae Albums in 1999, the popularity never distracts the band from the message they intend to share.
Mark Mohr
“The message, there is only one way, there’s only one way. The way is through Christ and we have set out to share those truths in a none threatening way and to just say “Hey, this is what God has done in our life.” And we want to do it over the most sanctified, the most righteous and most tight reggae music we can.”
Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.
On Friday night Christafari will be performing in San Ignacio at the Novelo’s Convention Centre and at the Belize City Centre on Saturday night. Tickets cost twenty dollars for adults and five dollars for children.
