4 months ago
25
Last Tuesday night was one of those defining moments in the career of singer Auraiya Hope. It was the moment of her EP launch, Chronicles of Love Vol. 2, at Footprints Café on Belmont Road, and she delivered the goods. From whispers of “Mi nah tell nuh lie, at one time mi neva did too feel her … but she bad like wow!”, to “Blouse and skirt … she a gwaan!” and “Definitely Reggae Sumfest material”, from the guests present, it would seem that the time has come for the 2024 Jamaica Festival Song finalist.
Appropriately dressed in full red, the colour associated with love, Auraiya was confident and happy as she took music lovers on a journey through her Chronicles of Love EP, expertly backed by The Experience Band, with support from vocalists Lisa Chai and Denesha. It was one of those events where the audience clapped in genuine appreciation after each song, and her set included a mix of original material, covers, and a tribute section to Reggae Queen Marcia Griffiths.
Intertwined with her messages of love found, love lost and love reclaimed, was a tale of her “lover” Damion, and many present were as invested in the romance as much as they were caught up in Auraiya’s really great performance. Of course, a bit of it was the thrill of “faasing inna people business”even after figuring out that the enchanting story belonged in the fiction rather than the non-fiction section of the library.
“I feel good because I see the audience. They came, they stayed and they were here supporting live music. And then to hear that they enjoyed it, that they appreciated what we had to offer … authentic reggae music. Now that makes me feel elated,” Auraiya, who is a proponent of live music, told The Gleaner.
She has great expectations for the four-set Chronicles of Love Vol. 2, which was produced by Rocky Valley Records, and she is ready to embrace the challenges that come with being an up-and-coming artiste.
“I expect to hear these songs being played all over Jamaica, to hear the radio stations being willing to play them … to promote reggae music, especially from a female artiste such as myself. It’s really been hard to get airplay. It’s been hard to do the promotions, so I am really hoping that persons who see what we have to offer and have the capacity to help us promote will step forward and help us to promote,” the medical doctor and singer stated.
Her début album, Chronicles of Love, was released in January 2024 and the singer shared that it “has really been good, especially for the single Pendulum” which in fact got a huge forward on Tuesday night.
“Persons love Pendulum. They have been requesting to hear it on the radio, but promotion is really costly and we are really hoping to break those barriers by showing what we have to offer on the next stage.”
PASSION
She added, “My passion is really songwriting, it’s really telling the story in the words and then to have talented Jamaican musicians. These musicians have played all over the world and, to really have them also interpret the music and support that, it’s really magical. It’s really good to see live music being promoted. I really didn’t want to come out here on tracks. I wanted to promote the culture because reggae is a band music. Without the band, it is really hard to convey the feeling of reggae. It’s so expensive, though, especially when you are trying to do it privately, but we decided that we were going to break an arm and a leg ... we are going to go broke tomorrow ... but we had to present this to the world.”
Auraiya also commended CEO of Experience Sound and Music, Oneil ‘Drumstick’ Walters, who is the producer and drummer on three of the four tracks on the EP.
The launch opened with a prayer by Latoya Gordon, followed by messages from Paris Gordon, CEO of Rocky Valley Records, and Walters, of Experience Sound and Music.
Vonni Koromanti, creative consultant and attorney-at-law, in endorsing Auraiya, told an interesting story of her first time seeing Auraiya perform, and complimented the singer’s team for a fantastic job.
“It was Auraiya’s first time performing with a band live, and the reception was just beautiful. Auraiya really represents the beauty of our sound,” Koromanti said.
Rocky Valley Records artistes Mystic Warrior and Jahmar had their time in the spotlight warming up the stage and making way for Bongo Herman, a presentation from the Experience Band, and the lady of the moment, Auraiya Hope. Emcee for the evening was Janice Young
English (US) ·