Kalistan

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Voronan Reggae Artist releases Debut Album in Kalistan
The Immigrant's Tale mixes Roots Reggae and Dancehall toasts
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July 4, 5719


Jacob Neville, known to audiences as Dah Rolla is in regular rotation on KRTVN Radio 4

A self described "Acolyte of Marijuana," reggae/dancehall artist Dah Rolla is no slouch. Born Jacob Neville, he moved to Kalistan from his home in Westbrook Vorona to Dahriel, Grand Duchy of Ananto. He quickly found work in Dah County's cannabis operations, where he specialized in cloning and germination while working at the the South Trichrome #4 Operations. He was promoted several times and became manager of germination within 5 years.

But Neville's real love was reggae. The music genre that enjoys a general popularity throughout the region was in abundance in in Dahriel's record stores and on the radio. "Yes, it was quite exciting to be able to turn on the radio, you know, burn a spliff and just sit back to enjoy music I grew up listening to back home," said Neville. Within a year of his arrival in Dahriel, he had met a local club DJ, Collin "Duppiekiller" Jones, and began to toast over various riddims that Duppiekilla had on dubplates. When Jones inherited some money, he and Neville decided to start an independent studio to help promote the independent reggae, ska, and dancehall scene in Dahriel.

Dah was always a part of Neville's life. "Well, the ODEN guys like to throw in ounces and QPs with the paychecks, you know. You get it for free so you don't kife it, you know... Dah is the highest grade ganja there is, world renowned, you know, but they make so much of it, they can just give it away. I never seen such a thing in my entire life." When he wasn't working on Trichrome River, usually during the weekends and during the hottest summer months, when there was no work or during the winter when it was raining all the time, he was back in Dahriel, working with Duppiekiller, performing together in Dahriel's underground reggae scene.

"We would do some roots stuff, sure, but Duppiekiller and I were just learning the craft back in those days," said Neville, now going by his stage name Dah Rolla. "We weren't what you might call traditional musicians, you know... But he's a hell of a producer, and he could do stuff with those classic riddims which made them sound both very familiar to fans and also new and fresh. It was pretty exciting." Dah Rolla eventually got to do a small tour on the mainland when the Dana Tradska group The Hightones were in Dahriel and stopped in and heard him. "We did five shows in Suldanor and Gaduridos with The Hightones, and it was a lot of fun. Building the name, of course."

Dah Rolla speaks, and coincidentally performs, with a heavy Voronan patois. "I've had people come to me and ask me if its fake," he said. "I say no man, I actually am from Vorona, I actually grew up talking Luthorian. It's not the same as the Vrassan they speak in Ananto, and to be honest, I think its cool, because it sets me apart here in Kalistan. There are not a lot of Voronans who make music in Kalistan, which, I get it, we have our own thing back home, but if you love music and you love to smoke herb and you love beautiful women and surfing, Ananto is what you would think of as heaven, you know..."

By earlier in the year, Dah Rolla had saved enough money from his work to actually record an album. "My mate produced the album, but I wanted to try it with live musicians, so I hired contract players, and we recorded at Duppiekiller's studio. And because I worked at Trichrome, my boss there knew a guy at KMI who put us in touch with another guy who signed us to a one record distribution deal. If it does well, we'll record in Kaliburg, but right now, we're still indie, and KMI is pressing and distributing and we get songwriting and publishing royalties. It works out well. Their first run was maybe 10K. We'll see how the LP does."

Dah Rolla said he wanted to make music for the rest of the world. "You know, in Kalistan they sort of take it for granted, you know, that weed is legal, but in most countries its highly criminalized. Here you can walk down the block and buy it from the weed grocer you know... You call up and the ODEN man drops it off to your house. But there's a lot of places where it isn't like that. So my goal was to promote the herb on this record, global, you know."

Many of the songs reference marijuana, and Dah Rolla says he knows Kalistani audiences will be into it. "One in three adults in this country smoke reefer regularly," he said. "And the other two lie. Haha... But for Kalistanis, the upside is the vibes. This record is no hardcore reggae record. I would say it's more dancehall than anything, but the best thing about working with studio musicians rather than just a soundsystem is that you actually get a lot of melody, so it approaches, maybe roundaboutwise, to a more roots influenced sound, more traditional reggae. It was a lot of fun. There's a lot of energy in dancehall, but the artistry of straight reggae, the positive upliftment, its really a good feeling."

And for the rest of the world, Dah Rolla wants to evangelize ODEN cannabis. "This is really the high test ganja. But I hope people of the world, even in place where they kind of have to hide what they do, hear the music and think, I need to make a trip to Dahriel and check it out for myself, you know. I'd like some more Voronans to come here and check it out. I want Luthori to blaze Dah. Last year Trichrome 4 put out some amazing strains, all natural upcountry, organic rat bat nourishment, grown in the high Ananto sun, strengthened by the fresh Seleyan breezes. Roll a spliff of this herb and you get red. I want the whole world to know what we have here. It's literally the promised land."

The first single, "Blaze it Freely," from Dah Rolla's debut independent album is now in regular rotation on KRTVN Radio 4, and it will debut next week on the Radio 4 Reggae/Ska/Dub Poll somewhere in the mid-20s. "For an independent record, that is pretty good," said Dah Rolla. "If we end up on the Radio 1 Chart, I might have to think about maybe doing music full time. Its a dream of the Immigrant. Come to a place like Ananto and make your living as a musician. What a country!"

You can check out Dub Rolla's "Blaze it Freely" right here, produced by Duppiekiller, on his debut Dancehall and Reggae LP release The Immigrant's Tale, distributed through KMI.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDYQ0kqrrrg]
"Blaze it Freely" is about the ultra liberal drug laws in Kalistan and Ananto