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Reggae Hiphop Emcee Ras Ceylon Brings a Fire with Gideon.Force Vol.1
Street Album Gideon.Force Vol.1 Blends Voices from the East Bay to Jamaica for a Hard-hitting Revolutionary Rastafari Mixtape
Oakland, CA (Feb. 23, 2011) – Oakland based emcee Ras Ceylon brings revolutionary conscious lyrics interlaced with Rastafari lessons and banging tracks in his latest album release, Gideon.Force Vol.1. His fourth solo album, Gideon.Force Vol.1 is a full-length LP compilation of a variety of boom worthy dance hall and reggae beats. Officially launching THIS TUESDAY MARCH 1st, 2011, the album will be available for download exclusively on RasCeylon.bandcamp.com. CDs will also be available for order off of the newly re-launched website at www.RasCeylon.com.
The record release party for Gideon.Force Vol.1 will be held THIS THURSDAY on February 24th, 2011 at the Red Fox Tavern in Eureka, CA. The performance will include Norris Man, who can be heard featured on the tracks Anyday, Anytime and This Day.
Drawing on his Sri Lankan roots and Rastafarian faith, Ras Ceylon brings a unique sound intertwining a revolutionary message with head nodding beats. Gideon.Force Vol.1 is a mixtape, compiling collaborations with various emcees and producers from Oakland to L.A. to New York to Jamaica. The album features major artists such as Munga Honorable (Jamaica), Shabaam Sahdeeq (NYC), Norris Man (Jamaica) and includes original remixes of collaborations with stic.man of Dead Prez and Tragedy Khadafi (NYC). True to mixtape nature, laced throughout the album are clips of Davey D. of Hard Knock Radio interviewing Ras Ceylon about his journey.
While a variety of producers having contributed to this album, the stand out songs on Gideon.Force Vol.1 were produced by Oakland youth whom Ras Ceylon had himself mentored. One of them, Anthony Fossett aka F1rst Class, passed away during the making of this album; a portion of profit from the album will go towards the Anthony Fossett Foundation.
As a member of Oakland’s East Bay Politix and having toured across every major city in California, Ras Ceylon’s sound clearly reflects his California roots while staying true to giving voice to the decolonization of mindstates with Gideon Force Vol.1.
“Historically speaking, Gideon Force was the name of the army that Emperor Haile Sellassie I used to kick colonial Italy out of Ethiopia,” stated Ras Ceylon, with reference to the title of the album. “As for Gideon.Force in this musical incarnation, it represents the same struggle of decolonizing, but this time for mental and spiritual progress. This album Gideon.Force Vol.1 represents the gathering of warriors for JAH to defend the cause of Revolution and Rastafari.”
His tracks show a clear connection to his musical inspirations – Public Enemy and Bob Marley. The track 4 Aiyana Jones hits the listener hard as a revolutionary anthem with lyrics on the epidemic of senseless police brutality while his first single Aluta Continua (Struggle Goes On) has a strong island feel and dancehall undertones. Whether head bouncing beats to spreading the message of substance abuse with the song The Question or the spiritually produced song Jah Livez spreading the message of God living in the hearts of all, Ras Ceylon’s lyrics calls for repeat listens.
“Rastafari is the significant force that changed my life into a positive outlook. It is the fuel that fired my desire to bring Revolutionary change into the world,” said Ras Ceylon. “The catalyst to this album’s creation was the unification of higher consciousness crossing all borders and genres. Spreading the message of equal rights and justice for all is what drove this album to completion.”
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Ras Ceylon is a reggae/hip-hop/dancehall emcee based in California. These are his words, thoughts and inspirations. Bless up.
