Music-Feature Article
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music and the contribution."
The hauntingly, serious lyrics combined with the deep, rhythmic riddims makes Bambu Station stand out. "I have a knack for writing sad songs," Jalani admits, "and I have made a conscious effort to write happier songs, because there is so much sadness to sing about and it could weigh on top of you."
"Every situation is a chance to grow / and every sunrise another chance to sow / with our hands in soil, we making furrow / Examine what you know." -from the song "Chance to Grow" on the album Break the Soil.
Jalani Horton's message is clear in each track. There is no more time for the suffering to continue throughout the world. He says it is up to each individual to look in the mirror and make the change. "To reduce your actions, starts, sayings, interactions, associations to simplicity. It's good or it's bad; it's right or it's wrong. It has nothing to do with God. Of course, men can walk in fear of God, live in fear; but I really believe if we strive to just determine whether something promotes life or promotes death, and make judgments based like that... we will all be rich."
Bambu Station has pushed the envelope of traditional roots reggae though. They have received numerous honors for their pungent use of music to teach. "In one song, 'Brotherhood,' I say 'Queen Alpha to the King Omega'; and I was in Hawaii and a brother pull me up and him say, 'Um, yeah, Jalani. I think you got that wrong.' I just thought aloud, I say, 'What are you talking about?' He say, 'Yeah, you say Queen Alpha King Omega.' I say
'Well, bredren, for me the Trinity lies in
that which we all come from, family. Family is three symbols. It represents three parts: Mother, Father and Child. It is the symbol of life that we all come from, family'... it might not have been the most functional, but we all come from man, woman and then child. For me, woman has been first in my life, and I feel that when we honor woman, when we celebrate woman, when we respect, protect, venerate and do all these things to and for woman, then there is life. To me, that promotes life. So that's why I call woman Alpha, I don't let religion call anything Alpha for me. In my life, woman is Alpha, I am Omega, and that works for me. Now, what works you is on you; but in the scope of things, it's about a positive God-spirit. People try to put a name to it, but, I am like, 'how can we?' If you try to put a name to God, then you're telling me you can talk about who created God? How God looks? We all represent God. We all are manifestation of these things."
Bambu Station Foundation
If this doesn't seem like a busy enough schedule, these men are involved in a lot of philanthropy. "The other 22 hours we're not in a gig, or on stage," Jalani Horton informed us; "we are in the community; teaching juveniles, juvi programs, in jails, we're in addiction rehab clinics." Bambu Station Foundation was started in 2004 to impact the life of children and families. To do this, they have different programs that focus on specific causes. "We're strumming an acoustic guitar, and singing to them, or just talking to them... brother Kojo (Johnson), he's a capoeira instructor. He speaks 5 or 6 different languages, and so we go in... and that's how we live."