RAS NAS is a band as well as the artist name of Nasibu Mwanukuzi, a Tanzanian poet-musician, writer and producer currently living in Oslo, Norway. Ras Nas has developed into one of the top afro-reggae acts in Scandinavia, performing major festivals and sharing the stage with top world-class artists.

Although he's listed under our reggae section, Ras Nas' own blend of afro-reggae includes everything from traditional reggae to hip-hop, to world-pop, to hard rock with reggae beat. All of the tracks on his new release are original compositions, and includes songs sung in both Swahili and English.

His page at MP3.com has already garnered more than 20,000 downloads, and offers his debut release Cut You Loose for streaming as well as a few select cuts for download. Cut You Loose had a broad range of songs that adhered to traditional reggae enough to please the hard-core dreadies while using elements from world-beat, jazz fusion, funk and hard rock to attract cross-over traffic from those that prefer a more diverse reggae or world beat sound.

Many of the songs are poetry driven, but my personal preference was the songs sung in his native tongue. Not understanding Swahili allowed me to focus on the music rather than lyrics. 'Zakina' and 'Sina Makosa' (sung in Swahili) were uplifting, exciting and had a positive feel, while title track Cut You Loose had a hard feel, hard (but realistic) lyrics.

For more information on Ras Nas, CLICK HERE

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