Jahmali
Artist. Roots
- Active
- 1990s-present
- Sunrise
- Clarendon, Jamaica
- Also known as
- Rayon Thomas, Jah Mali
Jahmali is a roots singer of the 1990s revival whose debut album for Donovan Germain, El Shaddai, the Rough Guide calls "a modern roots classic."
Born Rayon Thomas in Clarendon, he led his church choir as a teenager and was studying at Mico Teachers' College when he began recording for Bobby Digital and Germain. El Shaddai (1998) set the previously released title track and "21st Century" beside new songs such as "No Water," "Real Issues" and "Cry People," a version of Morgan Heritage's "The Comforter" called "Hungry People," and "Babylon," on a new styling of Augustus Pablo's "East of the River Nile" rhythm; "No Water" was his one large hit of the following year. Like Beres Hammond he worked mostly with Germain, and seemed uninterested in recording for many other producers.
Treasure Box, made for Bobby Digital before El Shaddai but released afterwards, had less impact, and he moved to the United States. Songs such as "Bloodthirsty," "How Thankful Am I" and "A Girl Like You" kept him working in Europe, and in 2012 he was finishing Eclipse, largely self-produced, with Clive Hunt among the producers.
Last updated November 5, 2026
Connections
- Bobby Digital (producer)
- Donovan Germain (producer)
- Clive Hunt (producer)
- Penthouse (studio)
Notes
- Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 369.
- "Jahmali," interview, Rebel Base, August 5, 2006, https://rebelbase.be/interviews/detail/jahmali---reggae-geel-082006.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 368. Howard Campbell, "Jahmali Aims to Eclipse," Jamaica Observer, September 20, 2012, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2012/09/20/jahmali-aims-to-eclipse.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 368-69. Campbell dates the breakthrough to 1999. Campbell, "Jahmali Aims to Eclipse."
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 368.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 369. Campbell, "Jahmali Aims to Eclipse."
