Who? Nattali Rize

Jamaica-based Australian musician, artiste, community-minded organiser who believes in the power of music to be able to harness our human potential and talents in a way that has a positive impact in our communities.

Where? Sunday, February 9 at Riddim Runway at Skyline Levels

I was excited to attend Riddim Runway at Skyline Levels… It was the first of its kind that I’ve seen in Jamaica. I wanted to support a first edition of an event like this and was also genuinely interested in the fashion element of it. My take was that Riddim Runway is a gathering where fashion meets classic riddims, meets live performance all delivered in an immersive audio-visual experience and that there is such great talent across the board of all art forms here in Jamaica!

A designer herself who repurposes denim… My likkle love for denim and custom pieces is growing and I give thanks for those who are seeing it and showing love and interest. It’s really about creating wearable art that features conscious words and thereby shifting the energy of the places where these garments are worn. My denim line is called FREE MIND clothing, and most, if not all, of my garments will feature those words in a bold and noticeable way. I spend hours on each piece, stitching, hand painting, sewing patches and other embellishments. It’s a joy for me, I get into a real meditation with it and you can expect to see some more collaboration items with other Jamaican creators in an effort to support each other and look good doing it!

The more... I grew up in Australia with a single mother who has impeccable taste in all things music.

She herself didn’t perform but she could play guitar and did a little singing, as such she was my first guitar teacher. Sitting down and her showing me the 12bar blues on the guitar as my first-ever guitar lesson was the very moment I knew what I wanted to do and be. And since that moment, music is all I have done, with the support of my mother and family.

Reggae was a common soundtrack you would hear coming from our little house in the low-income suburbs of Melbourne. My mum would turn on the music to cook and have friends over. That is the reason I fell in love with reggae music, the culture and the consciousness. My mum was also a community organiser and worked for many indigenous groups and organisations to bring about positive outcomes for communities and ethnic minority groups. Essentially that is what inspired me to start on the journey of being a conscious music, reggae-inspired artiste.

My mother is of… Samoan heritage, my father is Native American/Mexican. There are quite a few other Polynesian and some European bloodlines in there also.

Reggae was first introduced to me… as a small child. I remember loving the way it made me feel. As I grew up and was able to overstand the lyrical content and fully tune into a music that was created for the empowerment of the people, I loved it even more. I was 10 years old when I first asked my mum if I could loc my hair. She said yes and so that’s exactly what I did from that age ‘til now. One song and artiste that stood out to me was Judy Mowatt and her song,
Black Woman. To this day, I don’t think Judy overstands the impact she has had on me as a female reggae artist. I love her so much. I know all her songs back to front, thanks to my mum.

I had the opportunity to collaborate with Judy on the title track of my new album,
LIBERATE, coming out Friday, March 7! So you can imagine how excited the little girl in me was during our recording session together.

I am an independent artiste… I am self-managed, I tour, manage and, as of late last year, I am also my own booking agent. There are a lot of aspects of working with music in order to get the music to the people and most people wouldn’t realise how much work goes into putting on one show let alone entire tours and releasing music, and that’s OK! And, how it’s supposed to be in a way. There are just so many steps to take and there’s no one route that everyone must follow except that we always hope that we will all follow our intuition along the bumpy road that is the music industry and being an artiste in this day and age.

I personally started as a street performer. That is where I learned to create my own performance spaces out of the streets and interact with people face to face on that level. Getting immediate responses to my music and performance, I can tell you that it’s the realest stage you’ll ever play! That is where I started. After that I moved to a bigger city and formed a group, released music and started touring, always working with what little resources we had to get it done. My music has always been first and foremost about highlighting injustice, prejudice, inequality and most importantly about reminding people of their innate power to reclaim their sovereignty and freedom from a system that has never, and will never, have their best interests at its core. Music the healer, leader and teacher!

I would describe my sound as… a continuation of the mission.

I listen to a very broad range of artists across many genres… Aside from reggae and being inspired and influenced by all the greats and their children, I also love artistes like Santana, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against The Machine, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Angelique Kidjo, Jeff Buckley, Janis Joplin, Arrested Development, Lauryn Hill and Aretha Franklin, to name but a few!

I am beyond excited for my new album which is set to released on March 7 with the launch party here in Kingston… You can expect some heavy modern reggae sounds, roots, some softer moments, a ballad and a thread of our Collective Liberation weaving it all together. Our time to be a part of the shifting of global consciousness and all that entails is NOW! I am an advocate for the fact that the outer revolution can only be as powerful and potent as the inner evolution which is why I also sing and talk about our individual ability to shift the world around us by working on ourselves, doing the harder, uncomfortable inner work that will lead to a greater overstanding of One Love, Real Love, Inner and Outer Love and therefore a more harmonious existence for humanity on earth and a remembering of what it truly means to thrive and live in alignment with our higher selves and with all the beautiful living beings we share this planet with.

I would love to perform on the Jamrock Cruise... Because it looks like the best time on the high seas!

I find nuff things compelling about Jamaica… As I mentioned, I was first drawn to Jamaica via reggae music when I was a little girl. After being here on and off for some 11 years, and spending time in different places around the island, I am clearly in love with the people, the energy and the love of music that matches my own, the strength of the Rastafari culture, the ridiculous amount of talent, the mountain tops, rivers and ocean breezes… This is one special place, both on Earth and in my heart.

I don’t live full-time on the island... But I try to be here as much as possible to make make music and co-create with like minds. I am always honoured to be able to use my little platform in whichever way to benefit the community wherever I am. As such I also love to support the works of organisations and people on the ground here like JaBBEM and Children For Change Jamaica who are doing great things for keeping beaches and rivers accessible for all Jamaicans and giving ‘back to school’ assistance to the youth. I was part of the February 22 fund-raiser for Sugar Loaf Peak Nyabingi Centre at Bob Marley Beach.

Similarities between Australia and Jamaica outside of a passion for cricket include… a very tropical north of the country that has the same climate as Jamaica, as well as being one of the only places in the country you can also find similar foods such as sour sop, breadfruit, plantains, okra, tamarind trees. There are even two ackee trees that I heard of in that area! We have a small but growing reggae community. I’d love to see more collaboration between Jamaica and Australia and hope to be a part of that bridge that can share my experiences and help Jamaican artistes perform in Australia and vice versa!

Nattali Rize in concert at Rototom Sunsplash, August 2024 IG/@nattalirize

Nattali Rize in concert at Rototom Sunsplash, August 2024 IG/@nattalirize

Jamaica-based Aussie musician, artiste Nattali Rize describes her sound as a “continuation of the mission”.

Nattali Rize at work on upcycled denim pieces for her ‘Free Mind’ line IG/@nattalirize

A hand-painted denim piece from Rize’s Free Mind line IG/@nattalirize

SPOTTED!!! Aussie-born, Jamaican-based musician, record producer and social activist Nattali Rize (right) with Kamilah’s Kitchen principal Kamila McDonald at Riddim Runway at Skyline Levels (Rahyme Mckenzie Photography)