DIRECTOR RAS KASSA
As a young boy growing up on the gritty streets of Kingston, director, Ras Kassa admired the many talents his country spawned; in particularly, Bob Marley and Perry Henzell. In perhaps one of those kismet moments Ras Kassa a.k.a. The Guru is now one of the talents many Jamaican kids are looking up to. As The Guru Films Chairman and Senior Director who is ironically based in Perry's old office and responsible for most of the Marley families most successful videos to date!
His 2005 Directorial of Damian Marley's track "Welcome to Jamrock" was an international success with global airplay and scores of music video award nominations. The video, which Ras Kassa conceived, directed, edited and hand-coloured, sparked a storm of controversy and discussion. The Jamaica Tourist Board saws it as a subversive and a negative image of the island – and a juxtaposition to the beautiful beach and sun image of their media campaign. The influence of this gritty docu-style genre opened the flood gates for a tidal wave of music videos depicting the garrison life. Three years on, and the video is still studied in universities, and has over one million plays on YouTube.
At 27 he co-founding of the first Jamaican cable station, Music Plus and by 29 he was already in demand to work as consultant an creative director for stations such as JNN and RE-TV.
To date, Kassa has directed over 100 music videos, many of which were Marley family projects– Damian Marley's "All Night"; "Move" "Gang War Medley" and "Traffic Jam" (Stephen Marley featuring Damian Marley),, The Mission.
His belief as a Rastafarian seap into his cinematic vision. He has continued to steer away from the popular belief that "greed is good" and imagery of "babes,guns and bling" are the video pre-requisite. Yet, he has continued to attract the attention of mainstream artists. In 2007 he had directed over half of the artists from the Reggae-Grammy list. For a Jamaican based director this is a a first and still pioneering role. Ras Kassa has been responsible for creating music videos for international artistes such as Willie Nelson (Harder they Come, Worried Man), Gentleman (Superior, Intoxication, Why Cry - Afu Ra ft Gentleman, Caan Hold Us Down, Different Places), Beenie Man (Dude Remix), and Sean Paul (Never Gonna be The Same, Hot Gal Today), Michael Franti ("All I Want Is You", "Say Hey" and "Little Bit of Riddim") and the Billboard top reggae artist, Collie Buddz . Ras Kassa can be noted for achieving two very presigious world premieres - both first for a Jamaican director. His Beenie Man "Dude -Remix" music video premiered on MTV's popular mainstream request TV programme Total Request Live (TRL) and along with Damian Marley;'s "Welcome To Jamrock" placed on the TRL charts for a number of weeks. Willie Nelson's "Worried Man" premiered on CNN. Both were landmark events for the Rastafarian director who adopted his name from the Ethiopian general Ras Kassa (cousin to Haile Selassie I).
April 2008 saw the opening of his installation,"The Seen & The Unseen" at the prestigious National Gallery of Jamaica – as part of " Curator's Eye III" exhibition. An audio-visual presentation of traditional and contemporary life and performance in urban Jamaica. The piece captures on film pedestrians, traffic and accompanying sounds in teaming Kingston. Imagery of Kumina, Jonkunnu, Rastafari, Carnival, Dancehall, Obeah, marijuana, and a variety of other social rituals are wielded together into a personal vision.
He is currently on the board of both the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica
and CPTC (Creative Production & Training Centre). And, is a guest lecturer in the Kingston school district as part of an inner city creative awareness project. Kassa recently received an award for Innovation from Caribbean Tales Film Festival in Toronto...
