Richie Spice Running “Red Hot” on ‘Together We Stand’

Singing Music With A Mission

“The almighty savior was a poor man,” says roots reggae icon Richie Spice “but still rich because he ruled all of the earth, air, and water — which we don’t have control over. He was born in a manger. So the message is: no matter how poor you born, you can still be a great person in life.” Richie Spice himself has risen up from humble beginnings to establish himself among the leading reggae artists of his generation over the past two decades. His latest single, “Valley of Jehoshaphat (Red Hot),” continues his mission of singing righteous songs for the upliftment of mankind. “When Jah come from Bozrah with his garment dipped in blood / It a go red hot, red hot, red hot down in Jehoshaphat,” he croons passionately on the Clive Hunt-produced single, driven by commanding horns and a steady bassline that anchors Richie’s message. The song has a slew of biblical references, something which Richie hasn’t shied away from throughout his career, in keeping with his Rastafarian faith. (Burning Spear referenced the same passage from the Book of Revelations in his classic 1975 track “Jordan River.”) The song’s official music video—directed by Samo Kush-I Johnson—follows an elder through lush scenes of nature that is interspersed with fiery images of our world crumbling before our very eyes. Video After The Jump…

“I’ve always been a fan of [Richie Spice’s] music from ‘Earth Ah Run Red’ days, so it was great to meet him,” says Samo, who previously directed March’s “Note To Self” video with Jah9 and Chronixx. “I rate his energy as a Rastafarian man.”

“The director played that part and I thought, ‘Let’s go with it,’” Richie says of the video’s red theme. “Because the red means fire, which is the sun. Without the sun, there would be no light on Earth.”

“It ah go red hot red hot red hot!” Run That…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsKphOyQr0s&w=620&h=330]

Behind-The-Scenes Photographs by Kash ‘Rugged Youth’ Burrell

https://boomshots.tumblr.com/post/620666540425183232/behind-the-scenes-photos-from-the-set-of-richie

Jehoshaphat is known as the fourth king of Judah (known to modern society as Jerusalem). Hebrew: יְהוֹשָׁפָט, Modern: Yəhōšafat, Tiberian: Yehōšāp̄āṭ, translating literally as Jehovah has judged. “We saw the burden and the pressure on a person that tried to lead people in the right way,” Richie explains, “and non-believers were against him. He was very upset about it as a people person and a creator.”


The king was known as a purist: he immediately got rid of any male cult prostitutes and destroyed the Asherah poles where people were known to worship false gods. Instead, he sought out prophets to travel and preach the true and powerful word of God.

Jehoshaphat’s ideologies ring truer than ever today due to the international tragedies of COVID-19. Due to the ongoing restrictions of the pandemic, Samo had to take special precautions during production to protect the artist, crew, and the cast of the video which includes iconic Jamaican actor Carl Bradshaw. The team abided by the rules as they traveled through downtown Kingston, Portmore’s Hellshire Beach, and the outskirts of Kingston approaching St. Catherine to get the scenes just right.

“We [shot the video] right around the time when the coronavirus broke out in Jamaica,” Samo recalls. “I actually had to do some changes in the treatment, which involved many more people — especially the scene with Richie in the field. But a lot more people are hesitant to come outside of their houses. So we had to practice social distancing and follow the law of there could be no more than 10 people gathered in one place. It did make it a challenge, but I welcomed it… I definitely wanted to show the feeling of now, especially with this virus. Everybody’s kind of feeling dread but the video shows there is a brighter day. There is peace that can be gained through this hardship. Then we’re further into that by showing the speech of His Majesty [Haile Selassie] at the end.”

“Valley of Jehoshaphat (Red Hot)” follows last November’s inspirational single “Together We Stand,” which was chosen as the theme song for Jamaica’s national COVID-19 telethon. Richie’s upcoming album, also titled ​Together We Stand​, is set for a June 12 release via VP Records. “The people can look out for music that speaks about different issues in life and globally,” Richie says of his album. “The music speaks to the masses and we know that people are what make the musical plane, so we do it for them.”

With over 111 Million Streams across all platforms and known for his core hit reggae songs “Earth A Run Red,” ‘Youth Dem So Cold,” “Marijuana,” “Brown Skin” and “Ghetto Girl,” Richie Spice has recorded 8 albums for VP Records including his debut album ​Spice In Your Life which earned unanimous critical praise, ​Streets To Africa, Gideon Boot​ which debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard Reggae chart, in May 2008 and ​Book of Job​ in 2011.

Together We Stand

1. Blessings (Album Intro)

2. Together We Stand

3. Di Dub Dance

4. Beautiful Life (feat. Kathryn Aria)

5. Eyes To See The World

6. Unity We Need (feat. Chronixx)

7. Valley of Jehoshaphat (Red Hot)

8. California

9. I Use The Herbs

10. Dabbin’

11. Mother Nature

12. Murderer (feat. Dre Island)

13. There’s A Way (Remix)

14. De Stress

15. Put This In The Schools

 

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