User:Sjmenard

TAJ WEEKES
Taj Weekes is a St. Lucian roots reggae singer, musicican, songwriter and poet. Weekes was born in Castries, St. Lucia, his grandfather is of Ethiopian descent. Weekes grew up the youngest of ten children, singing in church and writing calypso songs. As a teen, he worked at the local radio station and organized dances and youth oriented events. His early influences range from Mighty Sparrow to Paul Simon to Nat King Cole. He credits his older brother, nicknamed MPLA (for the Ethiopian movement....) for his spiritual awakening and discovery of Rastafari. At the age of 15, Weekes moved to Toronto to pursue a career in music. In (year), he moved to New York, forming his group, Adowa, named in tribute to his Ethiopian grandfather and to an 1896 battle in which Ethiopian emperor Menelik II thwarted off Italian invaders.

CAREER
After performing in several New York City venues, Taj Weekes & Adowa released their debut album, Hope & Doubt in 2005 winning extensive airplay and critical acclaim. The band launched their national tour in 2006 debuting at the Vermont Roots Reggae festival and major venues in the Northeast and West Coast. Following the success of their tour, Weekes began work on his second album when tragedy struck. Both of his parents died within a year of each other. His new songs reflected the sadness that he experienced at their passing. Weekes states "I was wallowing in my grief and I wrote a song called 'Clay to Dust' which was incredibly depressing. But it was then that I realized that it was not about me.  Sure, I lost two people, but there are millions of people dying everyday.  So right then I scrapped all the songs I had and wrote 12 new ones.  I wrote about the world instead of myself." His new work became the group's second album, DEIDEM (meaning 'All of Us'). It is described as a meditation on confronting the fragmentation of the world and the search to give everyone a voice in it. Weekes explains, "Whether it’s Darfur, the Middle East, global warming…there’s something going on in every part of the world and we’re trying to bring it all together on one album. No one is talking to each other; the album is designed to create conversation where people can come together." The album focuses on problems facing the global community. Tracks such as 'Since Cain' refers to the violence around the world that has been going one since the first murder of Cain against his brother Abel in the Bible. 'Dark Clouds' addresses the global warming crisis and 'Orphan's Cry' discusses the atrocities of Darfur. The album received rave reviews from veteran music journalists, DJs and promoters around the world. Weekes' songwriting was singled out as the driving force to the success of the album. Veteran music journalist and XM Satellite Radio Director Dermot Hussey stated that 'Weekes' songwriting within the idiom of reggae music." In the summer of 2008, Taj Weekes & Adowa embarked on a national tour, debuting at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in California and hitting major festival and venues across the country.

Both albums were recorded under Taj Weekes' independent record label, Jatta Entertainment, which houses all media related projects created and produced by Weekes. The albums are distributed in the United Kingdom, Asia, and parts of Europe.

HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
In 2005, Taj Weekes created his not for profit foundation, They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO) dedicated to helping improve the lives of underprivileged, at-risk and orphaned children throughout the Caribbean. Weekes strives to use his voice to address world issues that affect these children and to use his influence to raise funds for TOCO's programs and projects. TOCO confronts issues such as poverty, health, human rights, and global warming. In 2009, TOCO travelled to St. Lucia to deliver 500 soccer balls, 600 uniforms and other soccer gear to underserved communities. TOCO has also produced tribute albums to address issues such as the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the crisis in Darfur, with the proceeds going to various humanitarian groups.