Navasha Daya and Fanon Hill present new Reggae band, ‘Oneeki Roots’
By Sean Yoes
Special to the AFRO
The music video for the new song by Navasha Daya and her husband, Fanon Hill, “Matters of a Woman’s Heart,” smoothly transcends the distance between the beaches of Monterey, Calif., and the narrow streets near Hollins Market in South Baltimore.
It’s a familiar endeavor for Daya and Hill, partners in love and music, who have traveled around the world to perform and create various genres of music. And their formation of the reggae band “Oneeki Roots” is the latest chapter in that journey.
“We are both multifaceted musically and so it’s important to have different avenues to express those different genres. Oneeki Roots really speaks to our reggae and roots reggae background,” said Daya. “And Fanon is extremely knowledgeable about all the African Diaspora music, and reggae is definitely one of his fortes.”
The band’s debut single, “Matters of a Woman’s Heart,” is produced, arranged and written by Hill, who is also featured on bass and synthesizer. Other members of the band include: Moziah Saleem on drums and percussion, DeAndre Shaiffer on fender rhodes (piano), Matthew Chase on guitar, and Daya providing vocals.
The story for the video was crafted by Hill and directed by Toroes Thomas, who is also featured in front of the camera with his friend Blayre Pichon, lovingly strolling the beach in Monterey, Calif., at sunset. Daya and Hill also appear in the video, with Hill playing bass on a stage, and Daya playing guitar and singing in the back of an Arabbers horse-drawn cart near historic Hollins Market.
“Oneeki Roots uses music to honor the values of protection, sanctuary, love and ancestral memory,” said Hill. “These values are essential to express through music. Reggae has always provided a sense of purpose through challenging times,” he added.
Hill’s lyrics and Daya’s vocals are reminiscent of another era of music—the 1970s, perhaps, when artists like Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Minnie Ripperton and Marvin Gaye fearlessly explored themes of romance, desire and love.
“Love has the power to renew and reinvent itself every season,” Hill said. “‘Matters of a Woman’s Heart’ pays tribute to the powerful ways that love has sustained families and communities.”
The song specifically speaks to the necessity of a man not just providing for a woman financially and physically, but intentionally tending to a woman’s heart.
“A woman’s heart can move the earth, sculpt new nations, and illuminate galaxies near and far,” Hill said.
“A man who does not take care of a woman’s heart will never be whole; he will forever exist out of balance,” he added.
The duo, who are also co-founders of the Cherry Hill Arts and Music Waterfront Festival, as well as the Youth Resiliency Institute, have always been intentional about creating music as a healing talisman for the communities they serve and beyond.
“Fanon is a very honorable man and is big on honorable love stories. It’s important to put that value system there,” Daya said. “Our society now is so ratchet; it’s so not about this divine love. I think people who have been married for decades take serious dedication. And you really have that in yourself to commit to a person because you deeply love each other…you can get through a lot with that.”
“Healthy relationships create healthy societies…healthy families, healthy households,” she added.
It seems clear that the messages in Daya and Hill’s music manifest in their community work and their lives; they believe in the power of love between a man and a woman.
“If you love God and have a moral compass and a value system that is the same and you love each other deeply and respect each other and are attracted to each other, you can get through pretty much anything,” Daya said.
“Man is a protector. A man protects us physically…to make sure we’re safe. But, we also need men to protect our hearts.”
