Boom Shaka is a Roots Reggae band based in Southern California. Founded by Lead Singer and Songwriter Trevy Felix in 1986, the first incarnation of the group hit the ground running and quickly released their first single, Dig a Dis, Dig a Dat b/w Ponderous. After fleshing out their sound with two new members, they recorded their first album, "Creation". Initially a limited release on their own Baga Style label, "Creation" was soon picked up by Celluloid records, and with the addition of some newly-recorded material, made it to #27 on the Cash Box magazine World Music chart. They also released the album "Best Defenses" on Liberty Records in 1992. Boom Shaka has avoided the personnel changes that plague many bands, keeping a solid and steady line-up since 1990. Along with frontman and founding member Trevy Felix, Bass-I and Wadi Gad make up the group's rock-solid rhythm section, Binghi I mans the keyboards and veteran Reggae axeman Lesterfari shines on Lead Guitar. This stability has allowed the group to grow and flourish. Their recent release of "Freedom Now!", on Stone Mountain Records, highlights the strength and maturity of the group, who are currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on an as yet untitled follow-up album.
Truly International in both it's appeal and it's roots (members hail from Dominica, Antigua, Trinidad and America), Boom Shaka is alive with the spirit of the much talked about, but rarely realized "Global Village". "Music is an Art", Binghi has said, "and the canvas that I paint on is the World."
An exciting and engaging live group, Boom Shaka has toured extensively (playing more than 100 live shows in 1996), spreading their musical message across North and South America, Europe and Africa. Though it's a far different group on stage than it was a decade ago, Trevy says, "Through all the changes, the vision has remained consistent." Indeed, it is that vision that has guided them from the beginning, and helped to shape them into what they are today: a wicked musical force, poised to take it's place at the forefront of today's Reggae scene.
Boom Shaka has stubbornly retained it's independence through the sheer force of it's music. While some Reggae groups have sold their souls in order to appeal to a mass pop audience, Boom Shaka has kept the roots spirit alive in their music, while infusing it with a distinctive "nineties" sensibility. Someone once said Boom Shaka is coming from "a land of different dimensions", and a listen to their latest creations seems to bear that out. No matter how much the music changes and grows, the lyrics remain confrontational and demanding: "we will have the truth", they seem to say, "we can settle for nothing less."
No other group in Reggae today can so seamlessly meld the spiritual deep-roots sound with such an appealing, modern slant. Boom Shaka is a force to be reckoned with, and a promising sign of Reggae's future.
