Jah9

Janine Cunningham, aka Jah9, was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on May 23, 1983. The daughter of a priest and a schoolteacher, she grew up in Falmouth and Kingston, singing in choirs from an early age. After university, where she joined a Rastafari community and discovered the dub poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson, her growing interest in reggae led her to record demos under the tutelage of Beres Hammond, who recommended her to the Don Corleon Records label. A handful of singles preceded the release of the album New Name in 2013, under the label of producer Rory "Stone Love" Gilligan. Jah9, who defines his style as "jazz in dub", tours from the U.S. to Europe during the release of the Singles compilation (2014). His version of Dennis Brown's "Bloody City", released as a single and on the We Remember Dennis Brown compilation, inaugurates his new contract with VP Records. The suspense surrounding the release of his second album continues throughout 2016, until the advent in September under the title 9.