Though he studies music at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Alie Simiji Marrah says his love of rhythms transcends theory.

The Sierra Leone-born singer, who is in his early 30s, credits music with bringing him through the hardships he has experienced.

He says when his mother and most of his family thought he would never walk, it was his grandmother’s singing that got his feet moving and dancing.

After watching his sister being raped and his grandmother’s house set ablaze during Sierra Leone’s civil war, it was the power of music that calmed his rage.

“I used to cry over these things but they have made me stronger,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Having completed an Associate degree in Performing Arts, Simiji is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in that field. At the same time, he has recorded songs such as Mamma Dingoley and Talibay, both done at Tuff Gong studio in Kingston for his Wounded Lion Records label. His goal is to release an album next year.

Having completed an Associate degree in Performing Arts, Simiji is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in that field. At the same time, he has recorded songs such as Mamma Dingoley and Talibay, both done at Tuff Gong studio in Kingston for his Wounded Lion Records label. His goal is to release an album next year.

“I have a message and you will hear it through a fusion of African music and reggae. The two will blend together,” he said.

Simiji’s message is steeped in the horrors of his homeland, one of many African countries devastated by civil war.

When he sees artistes in the west show off their ‘bling’ with extravagant jewellery, it is a reminder of the suffering he and his family went through because of the fight for ‘blood diamonds’ in parts of Africa.

“Those diamonds reached America on our backs and is paid for by our blood,” he said, his voice cracking.

Simiji said he fled Sierra Leone in 1999 on a ship, ending up in Trinidad and Tobago. There, he was jailed after his request for refugee status was refused.

Through the assistance of David Walcott, editor of the Afrikan Option magazine and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he was released into the care of the UNHCR in 2001.

Upon his release, Simiji went back to music, recording and performing at calypso tents throughout Trinidad.

Reggae came calling when he discovered the music of Sizzla through a friend. “Sizzla had a great effect on me. I wanted to come to Jamaica to know more about the music,” he said.

Simiji got that chance when he met actor/comedian Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis at the World Laughs Festival in Trinidad in 2004.

Two years later, Ellis helped him come to come Jamaica. Shortly after his arrival, he applied to study at ‘Edna’.

“Fitting in was hard, I still had a lot of rage in me from what I experienced back home and I would be involved in a lot of fights. They wanted to kick me out but thanks to Horace Prince and Marine Cunningham as well as the principal they sought counselling for me,” he said.

Simiji hopes to complete his debut set for release in the first quarter of 2013.