IT has always been asked, how does a small island like Jamaica rock the world with world-class musical talent?

This question is answered simply by Ras Haile Malekot in one of the engaging scenes from RiseUp — the feature-length documentary now showing at local cinemas.

The work, which is beautifully shot and edited, draws on the lives, hopes and aspirations of three Jamaican artistes and their bid to become part of the great Jamaican tradition of music, led by celebrated names such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Shaggy, Sean Paul, and the list goes on.

According to Ras Malekot, “the music is that spiritual, metaphysical force blowing in the wind… music is within, therefore there will always be music”.

It is that force that drew local businessman Mark Hart, along with Argentinian-born filmmaker Luciano Blotta, to uncover just a mere sample of the talent which exists here in Jamaica for RiseUp.

The documentary, shot over a five-year period, takes the crew over the verdant hills and deep valleys of the Jamaican countryside. Along this journey the crew stops in Hungry Town, a Kingston inner-city community, to focus on a then little-known artiste, Turbulence. The trod climbs swiftly to the contrasting lofty heights of Jacks Hill, in St Andrew suburbia, for the story of Ice Anastasia, a trio of wealthy, ‘uptown youths’ looking for their share of the musical pie.

Rural Jamaica is not left out in this exposé of the underground musical scene. Perhaps the most arresting subject in the documentary is that of Kemoy Reid, a young woman with the ‘voice of an angel’ who hails form the rural community of Raymonds in Clarendon. Her story grips the audience in the pit of the gut and at Tuesday’s Jamaican premiere, her scene stealers had the audience cheering.

Three different subjects, three different locations, three different stories, all woven together seamlessly by a single thread — music.

Blotta is a genius with his creative use of spell-binding cinematography, but the most commanding element of RiseUp is the stories, and the ways in which they are told, honestly and innocently by the three subjects and the supporting cast. For example, when Turbulence, who was then a virtual unknown, states that he wants to take his music worldwide — “Turbulence is always in the wind, so watch out,” he states.

There is an almost prophetic tone that is chilling, especially when one realises that within months of shooting this scene hits local charts and in facts takes his music worldwide.

The documentary, which has already garnered an armful of international awards, and rightly so, is certain to be a pleasant surprise for local fans. It highlights the diversity that exists in Jamaican society, yet there is that unmistakable commonality that makes us all Jamaicans.

RiseUp highlights the fact that there is always that next Jamaican act, brimming with talent, just waiting in the wings to take to the world’s stage.