TO GET YOUR COPY OF JAH HEM'S DEBUT ALBUM "LOVE IS THE WAY" CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK
Hem Benjamin Solomon aka Jah Hem was born in West End on the island of Grand Bahama in The Bahamas on September 1st 1976. His father, Rev. Edward Solomon built his home and church in the settlement of Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock. This is where Jah Hem found his voice for singing from an early age as a youth in his Father's church.
Jah Hem took his wife and kids and moved to Bradenton FL in his early 20’s. He recorded his first album "Jah Soldiers" for Original Records in 2002-2003 with a group that he co-created called the CREASONS. The group split up due to personal differences, and the album was never officially released.
In 2004 the urge to record led Jah Hem to hook up with co-founder of Lion of Judah Records Ramont Green aka Monty G whose experience in the music industry made him more than just a producer, but also a mentor and advisor. Jah Hem’s raw talent and determination led Monty to refer Jah Hem to an old time friend, Wallace Allen III aka Trez who became his manager on the spot in the beginning of 2004. During this time, Jah Hem frequented various recording studios in Grand Bahama especially Lions Den, Ultimate Dub Lab, 242 Records and Studio 6446 recording songs for his first mixtape “Rise and Shine” which he released in 2005. The mixtape was a success, all the local DJ’s endorsed it and for the first time ever Jah Hem’s music started playing in nightclubs even getting spins on the radio.
For the next two years, Jah Hem and Trez made it their business to get in contact with every local promoter and offered to perform pro bono at their concerts opening shows for just about every international act that came to the island such as Kymani Marley, Morgan Heritage, Chuck Fender, Deville, Ghost & Jr. Reid. Jah Hem continued visiting his favorite studios, creating new music but the difference in recording quality at the other studios led him back to “Monty G and Frost” aka “Architects Music” to work on songs for his album at the Lions Den.
In September 2005 the rollercoaster ride took an unexpected turn when Jah Hem’s manager Trez got into a terrible car accident leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Shortly thereafter Jah Hem and Trez joined forces with local producer, manager and friend Louis Moss aka Uncle Lou from Studio 6446 who immediately became an integral part of the management team and in December 2005 the trio established “Cutting Edge Entertainment, Ltd.,” with plans to publish music and harness talent across all sectors of entertainment from movies and fashion, to comedy and dance. The company made it all official and throughout 2006, Jah Hem got bookings to open shows for almost all the international acts that visited the Bahamas such as I Wayne, I Sasha, Gyptian, Sizzla, Marlon Asher & Baby Cham. It was at this time when he even began getting bookings to be the headliner at national shows.
By the end of 2006, Jah Hem had almost finished recording all the material for his debut album and you could find him selling his mixtapes just about wherever there was a gathering from “Freestyle Monday” in the ghetto, to “Fish Fry” on a Wednesday night and downtown Freeport on a busy Friday afternoon.
In the beginning of April 2007, Jah Hem released the first single, “Come Here Girl” from his upcoming album. It was an instant hit and the radio stations throughout the Bahamas put it in heavy rotation. By the end of the summer he released his second single, “Missing You” aka “Cant Get You Out Of My Mind.” They were back to back hit records and it was clear that Jah Hem was no one hit wonder. The songs spread like wildfire throughout the islands of the Caribbean, reaching across the waters to capture the hearts of reggae lovers worldwide. In late 2007, Jah Hem released his first music video for his first hit single “Come Here Girl” which did extremely well on the charts, rapidly climbing to the number 4 song in the Caribbean on TEMPO’s Cross Caribbean Countdown. His first solo album "Love Is The Way" was published by Cutting Edge Entertainment Ltd. and officially released on March 8th, 2008. The album is available for purchase worldwide online at www.itunes.com. The album is also available at a few record stores around the world including Super Power Records in Brooklyn and all major record stores in the Bahamas.
Jah Hem has since opened shows numerous times for Jah Cure, Beres Hammond, and Pressure, and has also shared the stage with, Buju Banton, Elephant Man, Tarrus Riley, Chezidek, Natural Black, Lady Saw, Turbulence, Cecile, Ziggy Rankin, Macka Diamond, Tessanne Chin, Trina and Rick Ross. He released his second music video early this year for his politically charged song “Wickedest Time” and recently released a third video on July 31st 2009 for the album’s title track “Love Is The Way” which was shot in Kingston, Jamaica.
Jah Hem is currently working closely with his management team Lou and Trez in the Bahamas, Gregory Trense in Bradenton, FL and Andre Miller in Miami, FL promoting his album. He is also recording songs for his sophomore album in Freeport, Bahamas between Cutting Edge Studios with Uncle Lou and Lions Den with Monty G and Frost. He is also currently working with Caspa and Marvyn in Kingston, Jamaica.
