Rohan, you've just released a new album, ‘Crush The Rock', but apparently most of the songs on there were already recorded a few years back?
Rohan Lee: "I recorded these songs at Sen-C P's studio back in 2007. Some of the musicians I worked with back then are now playing together as Asham Band. We basically laid the ground work for the tracks that now make up the track list of 'Crush The Rock'."
When it takes five years to complete an album, doesn't that ever become demotivating?
Rohan Lee: "Not really, because I already knew my music had potential from when I did my first album ('For The Poor', Runn Records, 2000, red.). I was already playing a lot of tracks that are on 'Crush The Rock' live before I put them on record, so I knew they were going to work."
What keeps drawing you back to Belgium?
Rohan Lee: "However you want to look at it, everything really started right here in Belgium when I linked up with Karel (Michiels aka. Jah Shakespear, red.) all these years ago. The music I do is roots music and the fact is that that kind of music is still quite popular in Europe, when in Jamaica it's all dancehall these days."
You've never contemplated taking the easy road and record some dancehall records yourself?
Rohan Lee: "That would mean I'd have to deny my true identity. I'd just be the next in a long line of artists just trying to make some money in the music business. I prefer to stay truthful to myself and carve my own path with all the tribulations and struggles that come with it. Music is like a tree with many branches, but a tree can never live or grow without its roots!"
Are you still planning on returning to Jamaica or are you planning a more permanent stay in Belgium this time?
Rohan Lee: "Well, I would really like to expand my reach to some of the other European countries; right know I'm known in Belgium and a little bit in Holland, but I'd also like to play in France or Germany, for example, and for that I need to put down my roots and create a more permanent base of operations."
What do you miss most about Jamaica when you're staying in Belgium?
Rohan Lee: "Just the general day-to-day vibes, really, and hanging out with my rasta brethren and reasoning; that kind of stuff. And of course Jamaica is also a sunny island, so I also miss the sun from time to time."
Let's not paint a picture of Jamaica as the perfect paradise, so what would you say are the things you miss least?
Rohan Lee: "Definitely the violence, political and other, and the disunity between different sections of society! Jamaica definitely is not a paradise, there's simply too much poverty for that. What is called poverty here in Europe is still considered luxury in Jamaica!"
The track 'No Easy Way Out' on 'Crush The Rock' is dedicated to the late Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore. What was your relationship with him?
Rohan Lee: "Together with Sam Clayton (aka. Brother Sam, red.) from Mystical Revelation of Rastafari, Dizzy helped me find my bearings in the music business, so after his passing I decided to dedicate this song to his memory."
What kind of family did you grow up in?
Rohan Lee: "Well, obviously my family name is Lee; my father was from Chinese descent and my mother was a black woman. A lot of Chinese that ended up in Jamaica were fleeing China (Most Chinese Jamaicans are Hakka and can trace their origin to the Chinese laborers that came to Jamaica in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The British parliament made a study of prospects for Chinese migration to the West Indies in 1811, and in 1843 made an attempt to recruit Chinese workers to come to Jamaica, British Guiana, and Trinidad, but nothing came of it. The two earliest ships of Chinese migrant workers to Jamaica arrived in 1854, the first directly from China, the second composed of onward migrants from Panama; they were contracted for plantation work. A further 200 would arrive in the years up until 1870, mostly from other Caribbean islands. Later, in 1884, a third wave of 680 Chinese migrants would arrive; with the exception of a few from Sze Yup, most of these were Hakka people from Dongguan, Huiyang, and Bao'an. This third wave of migrants would go on to bring more of their relatives over from China, red.). The Chinese and Indian communities in Jamaica mainly consist of people who are traders buying and selling goods in one form or another. They both passed away a couple of years ago. I guess you would say we were a middle class family. Eventually my parents separated though, because my father's family never really accepted the fact my mother was a black woman and that created a lot of tension between them. After the separation I went to live with my father for a while. I also spent some time at boarding school and after that I went to live with my mother in Rockfort. You could say I was born in Trenchtown but grew up in Rockfort. My father used to write songs and just a couple of years before he passed away, he even wrote one especially for me to use, but I haven't done anything with it yet. My mother used to be an organist at her church. She was a very wise woman and it was her upbringing that made me into the man I am today."
This year Jamaica is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence. What does that anniversary represent to you?
Rohan Lee: "It means we've succeeded in shedding our shackles of slavery only to see them replaced by economical ones! (laughs) Independence has been good for Jamaica in many ways, but there's still a long road to go."