OPEN HEART PROJECT: JAH9’S RICH JOURNEY THROUGH LOVE, LOSS & REBIRTH
Three years away exploring a new life. What Jah9 brings back is extraordinary. The Jamaican roots artist first introduced Open Heart Project in chapters from 2023, and its full arrival feels truly earned.
Born from one of the most disorienting periods of recent history, the record draws on a profound personal shift that began when Jah9 found herself stranded in Tanzania after a 2020 East African press tour.
What began as a short stopover stretched into three transformative years, during which she absorbed an unfamiliar culture, went deeper into her inner world, and became a mother. All of that richness lives inside this music.
The album unfolds as a complete sequence of four original songs, each paired with a reinterpretation, and a complementary set of visuals that trace a relationship from first contact through fracture and reconciliation.
OPEN HEART PROJECT REVEALS EXACTLY WHO JAH9 HAS BECOME
Open Heart opens with a jazz-laced meditation on self-discovery, leading into Match, which captures the intoxication of courtship. Hurricane strips away fantasy, and Sacred Energy Xchange closes the cycle, exploring what genuine intimacy actually demands.
The production is as layered as the concept. Winta James, JLL and Iotosh each handle an original track separately, preserving distinct sonic textures, while Lisbon-based producer Shaka Lion reworks each song, weaving in threads from Hugh Mundell, Wayne Jarrett and other reggae forebears.
Sound system stalwart Rory Stonelove anchors the reinterpretations in a full-circle moment, having produced Jah9’s debut album.
Open Heart Project reveals exactly who Jah9 has become.
OPEN HEART PROJECT TRACKLIST
01 Open Heart
02 Mind Ripples ft Shaka Lion, Rory Stonelove
03 Match
04 Big And Serious ft Shaka Lion
05 Hurricane
06 Category 9 ft Shaka Lion
07 Sacred Energy Xchange
08 Set The Stage ft Shaka Lion, Rory Stonelove
ABOUT JAH9
Emerging from Jamaica’s poetry circuit, Jah9 moves fluidly between roots reggae, dub, jazz and spoken word. Three albums, New Name (2013), 9 (2016) and Note To Self (2020), established her as a singular voice in the roots revival.
A three-year stay in East Africa transformed her practice, leading to Open Heart Project, a meditation on love and reconciliation. She tours internationally with The Dub Treatment and leads the rhythm-based Yoga on Dub.
