Meet Reggae Artist Ras Kaneo
Ras Kaneo, born Junior Stafford Lloyd Dixon to Mother Marva Doreen Clarke and Father Mr. Stafford Lloyd Dixon. Kaneo’s arrival to the world was on October 13th,1988. He was born in the little district of Rose-hall community, Linstead St. Catherine. However, Kaneo spent most of his childhood days in Hopewell, Malborough, Highgate St. Mary.
Photo by DJ Miami @ Team Upsetta
School Days
He went to both Malborough basic and primary school. He attended the High Gate Primary & Junior High School and was known to many as Junior. Kaneo’s major interest then was Track and Field. It was there where his exploits were best known as he represented the High Gate Primary and Junior high school at the divisional level.
Although his talent to run was evident, Ras Kaneo developed a greater interest in music. His love for music soon crowded out the possibility of a career track and field. Kaneo often caused distractions in the classroom by beating desktops and quoting authentic reggae music which he would hear on a regular basis at home. Kaneo entered a
few school talent shows at Highgate primary & Junior High & won first place a number of times.
Kaneo grew up listening to many great reggae artists such as Toots & the Maytals, Dennis Brown, Burning Spear, Bob Marley, Garnet Silk & Black Uhuru just to name a few. His father had a large collection of records from these artists and used to play them on a regular basis, which fueled Ras Kaneo’s desire to pursue a career in music.
Musical Journey
Fascinated by the sounds of the instruments and the urge to understand the messages in the songs that the artist is trying to spread. Kaneo began questioning a lot of things. Continuously seeking answers about life and the values of living, and the struggles poor people had to face.
After graduating junior high, Kaneo attended the Dintill Technical High School. This was where his musical talents began to become more evident to his peers and family members around him. He began writing his own songs and his confidence to perform them got greater. He performed at a school concert at Dintill High at 16 yrs old in 2005. To the surprise of many, Kaneo had now become a newly discovered talent on campus.
Ras Kaneo’s popularity as a young aspiring artiste got larger and more and more people started to encourage him to take it even further. Kaneo was approached by Kevin Brown, manager of Zeana Caribe, who heard about his talents and offered him a contract.
Photo by DJ Miami @ Team Upsetta
Discography & Experience
Kaneo worked on his debut Ep under the guidance and leadership of Kevin Brown. The Ep consisted of four (4) tracks. The songs featured on this debut Ep were “Dream”, “Come Around”, “Caught” & “Praise”.
In 2008, Ras Kaneo was featured on Cvm at Sunrise program where he did his first television interview. In December the following year 2009, Kaneo was booked for 3 shows in Suriname. His first 2 shows were in Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname and the last show in Albina (which is a town located on the border of Suriname and French Guiana).
Kaneo had the privilege to work alongside a number of great people in the music industry like Steven Stewart, Andel Tucker, Clive Hunt, Dave Edgar, Danny Champagne, Derrick Harriot and few other legends.
After his contract at Zeana Caribe ended, Kaneo ventured to Portland where he worked with YFL Bloodline with producer Syntax and thus the pairing between the two brought about two singles “Real Dem Nuh Real” and “Nah Change”.
What to Expect
Currently, Ras Kaneo is working on upcoming projects with Ghetto Life Records. Ras Kaneo is also affiliated with Triple L Records, which is based in Trench Town, Jamaica. Trenchtown is classified by many as the spiritual home ground of Reggae music.
Also look out for an upcoming release from Ras Kaneo on Upsetta Records!
Ras Kaneo Links
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