Jonny Ragga

The first home grown reggae artist Yohaness Bekele a.k.a Jonny Ragga was born in 1977 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From a very young age Jonny had a passionate interest in reading and writing poetry. His talents were spotted so early that his teachers at his elementary school would persuade him to read his poetry in front of the whole school. While Jonny was attending Bole High School his passion for music started taking shape.

Initially he loved all kind of music but what inflamed his passion started to become clear. Reggae became the type of music that he fell in love with. He got the chance to practice his reggae singing and Dj-ing style at a place called Ram Jam which was the most popular reggae club in Addis at the time. When he was 17 he joined Medina Band and got the chance to travel to North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Jonny is involved in every aspect of his music, from writing his lyrics and melodies to arranging his music. He is currently working on his own record label called JR productions for young and up coming artists. His albums include 'Give me the key' (his first solo album) in 2005. He also made a four-track album with the famous Norwegian artist/producer Barabass for the Save the Children on F.G.M (female genital mutilation) in 2006.

His collaborations include 'Pick it up' featuring Nyomi Grey a.k.a Ny (a young talented UK artist), 'Unfaithful heart' featuring K’alyn (an African American R&B artist), 'Hamer Girl' featuring Zola (a South African rapper and Actor) and with young and well known Ethiopian artists such as Chachi, Teddy Afro, Lafontain, Shewandagn Hailu and Zeritu.