Ras Askia

Muhammad Jobarteh, best known by his stage name Ras Askia is a reggae and dancehall artist born in Gambia. Ras hails from a griot family who are well-known in West Africa for their captivating voices, singing mainly traditional kora music. His musical interest began when he was a teenager. Ras has always wanted to be a musician and spent most of his teen researching into the music business.

In 1999, he released his first single entitled ‘Ghetto Youths’. Upon its release, he didn’t give it to any DJ because he thought he wasn’t ready to venture in the music industry. In 2000, he left the county for England. While in Europe, his friends encouraged him become a full-time artist.

In 2005, he founded a label called Hardcore Production. In 2012, he released his debut mix tape ‘The Tears’. In 2014, he produced a rhythm entitled ‘Gona Away’. The project featured 11 other Gambian artists both home and abroad. In 2015, he released another album titled ‘Gal Dem’.

Some of his songs are ‘Sitting by My Window’, ‘Never Sell My Soul’, ‘and No Justice’, ‘ My Mission andBorn Winner’. Now living in Austria, Ras is (as of March 2016) working on his debut album entitled ‘How the World Did Goes Wrong’.