Jafaris: Talkless, do more
Darling of the Irish hip-hop scene talks about lucky breaks and confronting racism...
Jafaris is one of the most recognizable faces on the Irish rap and hip-hop scene. That’s not just because of the quality of music which saw his 2019 debut album Stride receive a Choice Music Prize nomination but also his acting chops, revealed in the acclaimed 2016 film Sing Street.
Chances are, you’ve also seen him spilling his popcorn in a TV ad encouraging non-compliant viewers to get a television licence.
The very personable performer is modest about his variety of skills.
‘We have to thank God for that one. Honestly, no one in my family does music or anything like that,’ the 25year-old says.
‘I’ve always felt very comfortable in front of people on stage. Acting also
‘My attitude to racism had been, “If it doesn’t kill me, then I’m OK”’
allows me to really bring the songs to life for audience.’
That will be evident if you watch how he brings the characters in the songs on Stride to life in his Extra Session for Extra.ie this coming Thursday night.
His stage name Jafaris means ‘ to inspire’. He began writing raps and performing locally under the name ProFound but changed that after discovering a British rapper was already using that name.
He was born Percy Chamburuka in Zimbabwe in 1995 and moved with his family to Tallaght six years later. At ten, he began training as a dancer; his interest in music and acting only came later.
His break in Sing Street came about by chance.
‘I was in town auditioning for a whole different thing; a backup dancer for some British band. But I didn’t get it,’ he says.
‘Then as I was leaving to go after that, the casting people came out to me and asked would I come in to audition [for Sing Street]. I had only done acting when I was at school at Old Bawn in Tallaght when we did a piece in the Civic Theatre called Tender Foot. I told them I was an actor but that was
all I had done. I auditioned and got a call back to audition for the director (John Carney) the next day. When I heard I got it, I was like, “wow, no way”.’
The feelgood film was a surprise nominee for a Golden Globe in the ‘Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy’ category in 2018.
Jafaris has worked with other Irish black music acts such as Hare Squead, Precious and Super Silly. He also featured on Londonborn Bangladeshi-Irish singer Joy Crookes’s track, Early, which led to an appearance on the Later With Jools Holland show in November of last year.
The striking cover artwork for the Stride album, which he intends to follow up in 2021, shows Jafaris bound in tape with selected song words etched white on black covering his bare torso. While everyone is now well aware of the Black Lives Matter movement, Jafaris’s experiences have led him to become involved in empowering black Irish people by practical actions, as well as words, to counter racism and inequality.
‘Everybody’s attitude to racism and when they experience it is different,’ he says.
‘My attitude had been “if it doesn’t kill me, then I’m OK”. But I’ve come to realise that it adds to the problem if I am not calling it out instead of letting it slide. But that’s because I’m a person who doesn’t like confrontation. If they didn’t physically hurt me then I’d think, “I’m OK”. We are all good at pointing out the problems but what are the solutions? I can’t stop anybody from hating the fact that I’m black or hating anybody. What can we do to move forward?’
Jafaris’s attitude, he says, was to ‘step away from this collective inferiority complex’.
‘We need to create opportunities for ourselves, create representation. We also need to support black-owned businesses,’ he says.
‘Myself and some friends contacted black-owned businesses and created a directory called Irishblackowned.com. It’s not just for black people. We want something that we own but also something that creates openness and inclusiveness. It’s not for profit, we want to put something back into our communities.’
Already more than 300 blackowned businesses in Ireland have entries in the directory.
Jafaris does not like the term role model but his actions, driven by strong Christian values, are seeing him not only become one of the leading lights of the Irish hiphop scene but a figure promoting positive attitudes within the black community and towards black and ethnic minorities in Ireland.
‘Talking about things is all very good but it will always be just that. You need to act. I try to talk less and do more,’ he says.
Jafaris’s attitude is don’t let it slide, stand up and stride.
Jafaris plays the Extra Sessions on Extra.ie on Thursday night.