Lutan Fyah ADD
Lutan Fyah Interview - Strength And Resilience
02/27/2025 by Gardy Stein
Without doubt, this man is one of the most hard-working artists in reggae music. Hardly a year passes that Anthony Martin, better known as Lutan Fyah, releases a full album, compilation or EP, not to speak of singles: last year alone, their count stands at 40! In addition to the sheer quantity of his output, everything he touches is top quality, too, both in terms of music and lyrical content.
His newest offering Strength & Resilience is no exception. Realized in collaboration with the renowned Virgin Island producers I Grade Records (yes, the same ones that sign responsible for the beautiful 2017 album Music Never Dies), it again brings across the spiritual convictions and vocal versatility of this extraordinary man.
Lutan Fyah granted Reggaeville some insights into the creation of this newest addition to his legacy, talking about the St. Croix connection, the exciting features and the upcoming tour (and even blessing our reporter Gardy with a private lil Valentine concert):
Greetings Lutan! Before we start talking about your amazing album, let me ask, how did 2025 start for you?
I’m feeling blessed! It's a good feeling knowing that we are releasing a good album at the beginning of the year, and while releasing we have an album tour in Europe, you know, Germany, Holland, France mainly. So it's a great feeling for the new year!
That's good to hear! Last year you released about 40 singles. What were some personal highlights of 2024?
Okay, so… last year we released a few songs that people like, and the video for Rasta Reggae Music, a song that was big all over the world. And then we did a few tours in America and even in Africa. And I was always working in Jamaica. That's last year for me, this year, I hope things get even better, you know.
When did you start working on the production of the new album Strength And Resilience?
We’ve been recording this album for over nine or ten years! I Grade Records in St. Croix, I always stop by and we do two or three songs, they send me instrumentals to Jamaica and I make some songs to them, so we have at least forty songs together. We just chose 13 now to make a particular kind of album. Strength And Resilience, you know!
The last album you did with them was in 2017, Music Never Dies, right?
Yes! Some of the songs on the new album, we have them from that time. And we have two more coming!
Oh nice! Who and who was involved in the production of the tracks?
Well, we have features like Chronixx, Queen Omega and Akae Beka. Most of the production and engineering is done by Tippy I-Grade. Tippy do everything! I just do the vocals (laughs).
The song that opens the album is Warning Them. It’s talking about how Rasta has been telling the world certain things already longtime. Can you say something about the message in there?
You know, Rasta has always been about truth and justice. And in this time of the world, we really have to be careful of what we say, you know? So, when we say things, we try to make everybody a part of what we're saying. I think this song is for me to declare what I see happening in the world today. Yeah, just that.
And then the next one, Listen Mama, is about what parents, especially mothers, say to their children. Is it also about your personal experience with your mum?
Well, it's a general tribute, cause, as you know, we all look up to our mama. We love our mother! And mama is always there for us. We're close to our mothers in Jamaica. Every day of our life, while we were growing up, mama is always there. So, most of our time and experience is spent with mama. Most of what we learn, we learn from mama, you know? Yes, it's a personal song, but it's also a general meaning. Everybody appreciates what mama has done for them. We give thanks!
True! The next song, Leader Before Me, seemed very familiar to me. Did you play that before in live shows?
Yeah, I did play that song before. It was at Pressure [Busspipe] album release, I was there to sing that song. Pressure actually has a song on that riddim.
The “leader before me” refers to Haile Selassie, right? In the song you say that he saved you, can you tell us how?
Well, as a Jamaican, you know, I come from a cultural background, which is Rastafari. Jamaica is a country where 90% of the people is black people from African descent. There was a time in Jamaica when we were uneducated, we were like in a dark age. And then we have a prophet, our black survivor we call him, Marcus Garvey. He came and said, “Up you mighty race! You were once great and become great again, and we must all look to the East for the coming of a black King.” And then from that day onward, we've been looking towards Africa, we’ve become Pan-Africa, which creates different individuals among us, so that we become more bolder, more confident, more mightier and more balanced in our outlook. Yes I.
Thank you. And, speaking about Africa, one of the songs is talking directly to the continent, a song called African Children. You mentioned before that you have been to the motherland in the past, do you still have links to the people there?
Well, I always keep the link with my African sisters and brothers! I went to East Africa, I went to Kenya, I went to Mombasa, I went to Nairobi, I stopped by in Ethiopia for two days… I also went to Zimbabwe, twice, I went to South Africa from time to time, Malawi, and I also went to West Africa, that is Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, The Gambia. Yes man, Lutan Fyah has a strong base in Africa!
In 2018, you posted a video on Facebook saying “Africa is the new place for dancehall & reggae music.” You think that this statement is still true today?
Yes! Nowadays, as you know, the Afrobeats is on the rise. And the African people have loved that, and are glad that they get something on the world stage. I think in Jamaica, we are happy for them also and the music will always be rising. I as a Jamaican reggae artist, what we decide is to continue with this reggae music as it is, to create new melodies and make new beats and songs so that it can be attractive to everybody across the world.
A new style of beat is definitely heard on Protect Your Energy, which is probably the fastest track on the album. Can you tell us about its creation?
I wrote this when I was going through a bad time, and I was feeling like I've been used by some people. But, you know, when somebody got used, most times they agree, we never try to blame no one, we agreed to something that is not favorable to us. So we move on, and we create a song that's saying that. (sings: “Protect your energy, no make dem come bring down…”)
The title track, Strength And Resilience, is out since January. How are the reactions so far that you get for it?
Well, you know, everybody really liked it, and they send positive comments. This Strength And Resilience, it kind of renewed me, make me feel like a new Lutan Fyah in the music, you know, because strength and resilience take me through all this time. All this time I've been up and about doing my thing, working, pushing, grinding, you know, and that's our strength and resilience.
And it's very encouraging, too!
(sings) “Flexible like a bamboo, first glance to escape. Sometimes you got to stay put before takeoff, just wait. The world never stop, man you got to navigate. My challenges tie up inna mi fate. I turn my wounds into wisdom, I no worry bout the past cause me a live now, Most High him a di boss” you know…
Boom! I just told a friend today that this is like a hymn to get you through rough times. Beautiful! Another strong message is in Pieces Of Broken Soul, there you sing about “hungry mouths to feed”. Do you mean this in the literal sense or metaphorically?
I mean in the literal sense! Because all over the world there are people on the street who don’t have food, who don’t have family, who are homeless, starving, and when I look around I say they are like pieces of broken souls. (sings) “Abundance of weed, crack pipe and liquor so cheap, there's a lot of hungry mouths to feed. There's a lot of hungry mouths to feed!” Crack pipe and liquor, alcohol, it’s all over. People are dying in the streets without medical care. I think this is some place in Germany also. Pieces of broken souls, those are the homeless people, people living in poverty in Asia, in Africa, and even in Europe and America. We are fortunate people, you know.
Yes, I know, we just have to do our best to take care of each other and planet earth. This brings us to another important subject you sing about, and to the featured artists. I would like to talk about Queen Omega first, who we hear in Days After Summer, which is like an anthem to Mother Nature. This is such an important subject and I want to thank you for picking that up, because it's not everybody do it. I always think that environmental protection is the most important subject we have to treat in music and elsewhere, and so few people do it.
Yes, because what’s happening with the weather got me thinking about it. Even in the winter time, you got sunshine burning some places, and in the summertime you got winter freezing in some places. So it's like upside down.
That's true. And how did you link up with Queen Omega for the track?
Well, Queen Omega is a Trinidadian empress, and we always keep the link through Rastafari, you know? We always have Instagram communication, or WhatsApp, and when we see each other, it's always like brother and sister kind of thing. For this track, Tippy I Grade reached out, I did my part and then she go ahead and did hers.
And then we have the great Vaughn Benjamin aka Ake Beka on the album as well, on a track called Just The Time. How was this one recorded, did you work on it together with him back in the days?
Yeah, yeah. Every song I did with him, we were together, we spent a lot of time together, you know? Vaughn is my brother! We were in Saint Croix for about three weeks, and we did that Dub in the Fishmarket thing. They were in that marketplace, we went to sing there, I don't know if you know the place. After that session, we go to the studio and we sing ten songs together. Him never die, him always live on!
Thank you. And then there's Chronixx, a big surprise. Can you tell us how you linked up with him and how you developed the song, Freedom Sound? What's the story behind it?
Chronixx is a friend of mine, we know from Spanish Town days. He lives about five minutes away from my yard, so we always have that communication and link, and whenever a project arise, Chronixx is always ready. So, we wrote a few songs and we sing a few songs, this is the second song I record together with him. It was easy, Chronixx wrote this song with me, so we just go ahead and sing. (sings: “Give I the teaching of his majesty…”)
It’s one of my favorites! Beautiful. The song closing the album is Tomorrow From Today. What do you mean by the chorus, “Who learn tomorrow from today”?
(sings) “Who learn tomorrow from today?” It means what you do today makes way for you to live tomorrow. And whatever experience you have, that's the benchmark for your next move. If you have it bad today in a particular scenario, and that scenario arrives tomorrow, we know what to do. It means you won’t make the same mistake again.
Is it like a proverb in Jamaica?
Well, that’s my proverb (laughs).
Do you have a favorite song?
Pieces of Broken Soul, and also Strength And Resilience.
And will there be videos for some of the songs?
Well, I did a video clip for Strength And Resilience, but I hope to do an official video for it next week.
So we can look forward to something nice! The album is released on February 28th – will there be a launch party in Jamaica or something like that?
Well, on the 28th we’ll be traveling into Europe already, so we’ll treat the whole tour like a release party (laughs).
Exciting! How do you prepare for the upcoming Roots and Culture #3 tour? And will we hear some of the new songs?
Oh yeah! Strength And Resilience for sure, and Pieces Of Broken Soul for sure. My preparation is like, drink a lot of water and exercise, do my dumbbells and get rest. It's nothing like rocket science, I do this thing normal. I just love to have some nice shows, and people turn out and have fun, you know?
You’ll be on this tour with Jah Mason, who is well known of course, and Zhayna. Can you introduce her briefly?
She's new from Jamaica. She's very new, I think she did No Logo Festival last year. She's been around, you know!
We are very excited to see you here! Is there something you want to tell our readers before we wrap up?
I would like to say thanks to the entire Europe for inviting Lutan Fyah again. I appreciate the I love and I would like to all together and have a glorious time and enjoy this one full month of Lutan Fyah in Europe. I hope you all come out and we share the vibes. I really love you guys! Nuff respect.
