By Faye-Chantelle Mondesir
Rashaad Joseph, an all-too-familiar title on both the Saint Lucian and international creative scene kick-started his music career at the St. Lucia School of Music as a preteen. He sampled various musical instruments until he stumbled upon the ‘sexy sax’ which he immediately passionately fell in love with. His instant fascination with, affinity for and adaptation to the piece — convinced him that becoming a saxophonist must have been written and set in the stars.
“I drew inspiration from Gerald Albright, Luther Francois & Rob ZIi Taylor,” he informed In The SpotLyght Feature Magazine. “As a youngster at school, I participated in an Inter Secondary School X-Tempo Competition hosted by Invader and triumphantly took home the crown to the Corinth Secondary School — a feat achieved with the fervent support of my music teacher Ms. Maraj.”
Rashaad consistently cultivated his craft with the goal of levelling up with the best in the industry — a challenge he took very seriously.
The young, dexterous player was fortunate enough to collaborate with amazing bands like the Black Antz Jazz Band and Dynamix during the formative years of his career, prior to putting together his very own band ‘Oceanview’ in early 2019.
He has professionally graced many stages, where he represented well at major events including the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival, Jazz On The Grill and U4Ria. Subsequent to these appearances — Rashaad gradually became a household name as one of Saint Lucia’s rising young saxophonists — offering stellar performances with a depth of heart, topped up with deep-rooted soul which undoubtedly resonated with his inspired audiences.
Along his journey, Rashaad has continued to steadily prune his craft as a musician, developing the complementary role of a vocalist. Listening to and observing international artistes like Drake, Alkaline and Chronixx motivated the young hopeful and propelled him to hone in on his own vocal skills which before then, mostly remained dormant.
With total control of the sax, the young man continues producing melodious sounds on his big horn — while simultaneously developing his vocal inclinations into a steady, profitable career. Rashaad’s debut track was released during the latter part of 2018 and continued to create ripples into 2019 among his fans which were many.
‘Casanova’ was the hit original song which stirred his appreciative listeners in a major way, accompanied by a music video filmed and produced in Miami, South Pointe Park, starring feature model Chanel Carter who also appeared in Alkaline, Chris Brown and Trey Songs’ videos.
At the age of 20 years, Rashaad Joseph continues to mature as a musician and artiste, fine-tuning his artform in between his collaborating stints with various artistes — to help speed up his career expansion, bringing Saint Lucian musicians and performers the attention they deserve.
