Born and raised in St. Lucia, Taj Weekes grew up the youngest of ten children in a family where music was ever present. The radio was a source of untold treasures: playing everything from rock, country, R&B, soul, jazz and more. Weekes grew up blissfully unaware of category or genre - to him, great music was (and is) great music no matter what the style.

By age five, Taj was singing in church and by eleven he was composing his own calypso music. His older brother's immersion in Rastafari provided Taj with a spiritual awakening and a context for his burgeoning worldview.

In his late teens, Taj left home for North America to fulfill his musical ambitions. After a stint in Toronto, Weekes came to New York and formed Taj Weekes & Adowa. In 2005, the band released their first album, Hope & Doubt, under the banner of Weekes' independent label Jatta Records. Extensive radio play and rave reviews in the press positioned the band for touring throughout New England and the West Coast, building their following at every performance.

After completing touring for Hope & Doubt, Weekes began to write for his next album. During that time, within the span of a year, both of his parents died and the new songs reflected the sorrow of the time.

"I was wallowing in my grief," Weekes reveals. "I wrote a song called 'Clay Dust To Dust,' which was incredibly depressing, but it was then I realized that it's not about me. Sure, I lost two people, but there are millions of people dying every day. So right then, I scrapped all the songs I had and wrote twelve new ones. I wrote about the world instead of myself."

Weekes soon emerged with DEIDEM (meaning "All Of Us"), a meditation on confronting the fragmentation of the world and the search to give everyone a voice in it. Weekes explains, "Whether it's Darfur, the Middle East, global warming; there's something going on in every part of the world and we're trying to bring it all together on one album. No one is talking to each other; the album is designed to create conversation where people can come together."

Taj Weekes' music is more than just entertainment; it stirs thought, provokes discussion and inspires people to think for themselves. Around the globe, people are responding to the authenticity of Weekes' spirit and his commitment to illuminating the plight of the voiceless and the oppressed.

Weekes' non-profit organization, They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO), demonstrates this commitment through improving the lives of disadvantaged children around the world via music, soccer programs and more. In conjunction with LIFEbeat, TOCO is helping to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Caribbean communities.

Album from St. Lucian Reggae Artiste Accepted for Grammy Consideration

posted November 26th at 7:17am

THE JAMAICA OBSERVER

St. Lucian roots reggae artist Taj Weekes and his band Adowa celebrate the acceptance of their sophomore release DEIDEM for consideration of a Best Reggae Album nomination by The Recording Academy for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009.

Grammy hopeful Weekes states, “We may just be the first St. Lucian artists to be nominated for a Grammy to date.” For the first time ever, the announcement of nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards will take place during a prime-time television special, "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night," on December 3 on the CBS Television Network.

Enthusiastically received by fans and the media alike, Billboard Magazine proclaimed DEIDEM as one of “six albums that herald the roots reggae resurgence.” Veteran music journalist and XM Satellite Radio Program Director Dermot Hussey described DEIDEM as "raising the level of songwriting within the idiom of reggae music.” Reflecting on his position as a non-Jamaican reggae artist, Weekes muses, "Reggae music is like a tree… its roots are in Jamaica, but its branches have outgrown the yard and the fruit has landed in other territories.”

With potent and penetrating lyrics, DEIDEM, meaning “All of Us,” delivers a passionate commentary on the relevant issues of our time. Weekes explains, "Whether it’s Darfur, the Middle East, global warming…there’s something going on in every part of the world and we’re trying to bring it all together on one album. No one is talking to each other; the album is designed to create conversation where people can come together."

Though the topics are insightful and serious, the grooves, melodies and rhythms are the familiar backbeats that reggae fans know and love. Reggae Reviews writes, “After releasing perhaps the best reggae album of 2005, Taj Weekes returns with an early candidate for the best of '08 in DEIDEM... It's smart, inspirational, musically vibrant, and just plain gorgeous. No reggae fan can afford not to know Taj Weekes.”

Weekes’ commitment to humanitarian issues is demonstrated by his work as Goodwill Ambassador to the Caribbean in cooperation with the International Consortium of Caribbean Professionals (ICCP) and as founder of his charity, They Often Cry Outreach, which is dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged, at-risk and orphaned children in the Caribbean and beyond. A portion of the proceeds from the song “Orphans Cry” will be donated to TOCO to bring awareness to the issues that affect the Caribbean such as HIV/AIDS, global warming and poverty.

DEIDEM was released during the eligibility period on August 8, 2008 through Weekes’ independent label, Jatta Records, with U.S. distribution through the Independent Distributors Collective and Homegrown Music Network. Through a licensing deal with Spectra Records, DEIDEM was released to major distribution chains throughout the U.S., Canada and Asia. In conjunction with Afrikool/Culture Taxi Records, Jatta secured distribution for DEIDEM in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. DEIDEM is available online through iTunes, eMusic, Amazon and other online music distributors.