There’s an old adage that states looks can be deceiving.  Well, names are no exception to that rule.  Razah, Def Jam’s new 24 year-old Jamaican-born artist, is more sensitive soulman than R&B thug.

His first single, “Rain,” has confessional lyrics, a laid-back groove, and smooth vocals that can easily place him in a league of more established R&B singers such as Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, and Mario.

That position would be ideal if Razah was solely aiming at the R&B market.  But with a Caribbean influenced sound and topics that range from growing up without a father to female sexual abuse, Razah is shooting for a global impact in the pop market.

Sixshot took it to the edge with Razah as he talks Jay-Z’s departure from Def Jam, being molded as the male version of Rihanna, the one special girl in his life that makes him most vulnerable, growing up without a father, his one beef with some of his peers, why he’s confident the world will love his music, and more.           

When was the moment that you realized you wanted to be a singer?

When I was eleven.  My homeboy had a sound system down in his basement on my block in Brooklyn.  We used to go in there and fool around with the instrumentals.  One day my homeboy told me, “Yo, you should really start doing this.  You sound good.”  I used to just play around with it.  Nobody ever taught me how to sing.  I didn’t go to any music schools or sing in any church choirs.  So I started recording and writing my own songs.

When Jay-Z was at Def Jam I read that he made a verbal agreement deal with your management before he left his position.  Now L.A. Reid oversees everything so how has that transition been for you?

It’s cool.  I didn’t know he [Jay-Z] was leaving but I knew when I came to Def Jam that if I wanted to be successful at Def Jam I had to get the ear of L.A. Reid.  When it comes to signing and musical stuff, L.A. did Usher and Pink, so I knew I had to get his ear.  Once I got his ear we were all good.  I was just with L.A. last week hanging out with him at a party.  He even told me that Jay-Z didn’t leave on a bad note.  He just wanted to move on and L.A. was like, “I’m gonna pick up your project and do it because I believe in your music.” 

How does your Jamaican heritage influence your sound and personality?

It definitely influenced my sound.  On the album I got this reggae joint called, “Girlfriend,” featuring Damien Marley.  So I got the Caribbean feel on the album.  Also since I come from Jamaica I know I that got to work extra hard and put that extra wok in.

Do you feel that as a Jamaican artist the odds are against you?  If so, is that why you must work harder than others?

Oh, yeah.  Jamaica is such a small island.  America is a bigger environment with fifty artists, fifty singers and rappers.  So you got to work extra hard to be to where you need to be at.

It’s a very crowded R&B male market with Ne-Yo, Omarion, Chris Brown and others.  How do you aim to stand out amongst your peers?

Jay-Z told me when he signed me that he didn’t want me to be an R&B artist.  He told me that he wanted me to be a universal artist, and to make big pop records with that Jamaican sound.  I was reading an interview the other day and it said that Mary J. Blige has never been to Australia and that was stunning to me.  So Jay-Z didn’t want to put me in that R&B market.  He wanted to put me overseas being that I’m Jamaican.  He wants me to be the male version of Rihanna—selling overseas and making worldly music. 

You once stated that you’re trying to bring back vulnerability to the music scene.  When are you at your most vulnerable?

I’m most vulnerable when I’m home with my daughter.  I have a one-year old daughter.  She means the world to me.  I’m most vulnerable when I’m with my daughter because I know I’m a dad now.  This is my first time being a dad.

What have you learned about being a dad?

It’s a different kind of love.  It’s a love that you can’t explain.  It’s like the love that your mom has for you.  It’s a love that I never thought I would have for another person.  It’s just a whole different feeling.

Are you a single dad or are you still with the mom?

Off and on.

One of the topics you address on the album is the female struggle with sexual and drug abuse in the song “Runway.”  What inspired that song?

I moved from Jamaica when I was four years old to Brownsville, one of toughest areas in Brooklyn.  The girls that I went to school with were single parents like myself and they had to do other things to get money, food, or clothes to come to school.  So it’s just things that I’ve seen in my neighborhood that I write about.

What is the message that you want to send to your daughter about life?

We’re gonna be talking all day!  [Laughs]  I just want to teach her to love and respect people.  I don’t ever want her to know that word hate—even though it’s gonna be out there.  I want to teach her everything.

In the song, “Dear Daddy,” you speak about the father you never knew.  How did you handle growing up without a dad?

When I was younger it used to bother me but always had uncles around.  My mom was so strong as a single parent.  So I did that song to get it off my chest.  It’s not a hateful type of record.  It’s just asking, why?  I just wanted to ask questions and it’s basically like a letter in a song format.

So you’ve never met your father at all?

No, never. So that song is a letter that I wrote and I just turned it into a song. 

Are you searching for your dad?

No, I’m definitely not.  I got my mother.  She’ll tell you that she’s my mother and my father.  [Laughs]

On the record we see the softer side of Razah, but what is the harder side of Razah like?  What ticks you off and brings out the edge in you?

Damn, a lot of things.  [Laughs]  What makes me angry are the new cats coming out saying that they’re bringing this back and doing this and that   They’re not really writing any records.

That really irks me that these dudes are telling other people’s stories.That’s why I can’t really buy albums because it’s not real, you can’t really get to feel them.

So what are you really bringing back?  You’re bringing somebody else’s story back.

You write your own material so what is the writing process like for you?

The writing process is real simple.  I just get the track, I sit with it, come up with the concept of whatever I want to talk about, and just bang it out.  I don’t try to do anything too complicated.

If the song takes me an hour to write I probably won’t record it.  I wrote “Rain,” in like fifteen minutes.  I went right to the studio and then played it for [Antonio] L.A. [Reid] and Jay-Z.  They loved it.  So its records like that that are just real and honest.  That record was about my high school sweetheart.

You mentioned your mom earlier and I know that she’s a big inspiration for you.  What would you say is your primary motivation? 

My family—my daughter and my mother.  I’m motivated by the response that I’m getting from L.A. Reid, Jay-Z, and the fans.  I know that I got a lot of people that I got to make proud.  Even you—you probably want me to sell some records so that you can say, “I interviewed him when he was nothing.”

[Laughs]  There’s a lot of talk about how the record industry is changing, sales aren’t what they used to be, and so forth.  We often hear what established artists think about these trends, but as a new artist coming out in uncertain times do you have any concerns about how this all may affect your debut?

I don’t have any concerns because look at what Alicia Keys just sold.  I’m making that emotional music that’s gonna hit that chord and it’s gonna make you want to listen to it.  You can listen to the “Rain,” song over and over and over again.  I’m not really worried about it.  I’m just gonna put my work in and whatever God got planned for me that’s what it is. 

Where do you want to be five to ten years from now?

I hope to be on my tenth album or twelfth album, have a family, and be married with a bunch of kids.

For more information Razah please visit:
http://www.myspace.com/razah