Otis “Obeyjah” White

Casey Holloway

by Darrell Creecy
October 28, 2009

Sitting in a lounge chair in his living room, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and wearing a red, green and yellow Rastafarian crown, Otis "ObeyJah" White beats conga drums in a melodic fashion. With his raspy Jamaican accent, he chants reggae lyrics that ease the soul. "It's the voice with the music that heals the spirit," he says as he leans forward to play with more intensity.

White, who has been a musician for more than 25 years, was born in 1946 in Forkville, Miss. As the son of a sharecropper and an herbal healer, White's daily routine growing up revolved around singing and playing music. His initial interest in music stemmed from the words of his grandfather, a Cherokee Indian, who told him that they were the ancestors of "godly people." As a child, White's family members strummed on a "cat-gut string" (a homemade upright base), and he used tin cans filled with sugar cane as drums, while singing joyful melodies of happiness and righteousness during family gatherings.

"My mother told us ghost stories of the dead being seen on roads at night and the hardships of our family," White says.

The White ancestors used music and other various methods passed down through generations to heal the sick. Elders taught that the power of music brings about love, peace and harmony among mankind, and taught a moral code to "treat your fellow man as you want to be treated."

In the 1970s, White began to move about the country learning to play different instruments, gaining knowledge of Latin and reggae cultures while playing with various bands. He added Ras and Obeyjah (which means to obey God) to his name along the way and labeled himself a reggae ambassador. In the '90s White received inspiration from the Afro-Cuban musicians in San Francisco and founded the Obeyjah Reggae Band. The band released its first album, "Let Jah Rise," recorded in Bob and Rita Marley's Tuff Gong Studio in Jamaica in 1997. They subsequently traveled to Brazil and South Africa to play.

During his career, White has worked with many well-known musicians, including The High Time Players, a recognized Jamaican band.

Since moving to Jackson earlier this year from California, White has performed at Jubilee!JAM and Wellsfest.

"I want the city of Jackson to know that I am back and ready to jam," he says. He is working on his new album, "The Valley of Dry Bones," which features Jamaican musicians Earl "Chinna" Smith and Franklin "Bubbler" Waul, former band members from the legendary Marley family band.