Reggae artiste Auraiya Hope says she intends to maintain the purity of her image, even as her career begins to pick up steam.

The part time medical practitioner, who began her musical journey in 2020, named Marcia Griffiths and JC Lodge among women she aspires to emulate, noting that despite their clean-cut image, they’ve managed to have success in the industry.

Slamming the ‘sex-sells’ mantra, Hope believes there is still a demand in reggae for authentic talent without the oversexualized image.

“Fortunately for reggae, unlike probably in the pop world, there is actually a lane for persons who want to produce good music and maintain their values. Look at Tessanne Chin and Alaine, they’re two classic examples” Hope said.

“Reggae itself, because it was born as a revolutionary music, aims to incite social consciousness. Reggae speaks about social problems. We were able to create a genre that preserves purity. There is hardly a reggae song with a profanity in it – that’s frowned upon,” added Hope.

Hope, who is currently promoting her single This Must Be Love, believes that the appetite for reggae is great but access is limited.

“The notion is that we don’t really have that desire for reggae, but I think that the challenge is that there is not much access to reggae. Look for example at the recent show with Beres Hammond and Buju Banton – Intimate. The people who went are Jamaican, they even camped out to hear reggae in its highest form but, outside of shows like that, there are very few venues that promote live music,” she said.

“It really is an availability issue,” she stressed.

The availability issue is one Hope aims to remedy, sharing that in collaboration with Oneil Walters from the Experience Sound and Music, they were concluding talks with a Kingston-based cafe to offer a weekly live music showcase.

Hope’s Chronicles Of Love EP is available on all music streaming platforms.