On Saturday July 19th, it’s all about New Horizon alongside Dodo as New Horizon Family celebrates is 6th Anniversary with a LIVE performance by Fanton Mojah, Ninja Ford and G’ovany. Get ready Cleveland for a night of roots and culture with one the most talented and most impressive artists Fantan Mojah. It all goes down at Club Center, 8800 Woodland Avenue. Featuring with music by New Horizon, Sample Jack, Star Temple and hosted by Mr. Personality, KC Platinum and a SURPRISE dancehall queen contest (dancehall queen + culture vibes, who knew?)Owen Moncrieffe, aka Fantan Mojah, was born to a Christian family in the southern Jamaican agricultural parish of St. Elizabeth. At 10 years old he refused to attend church declaring, “Mi no deal with Jesus, Mi deal with the Creator”. Upon this defiance, his mother threw him out of the house. Throughout his early teenage years, Mojah alternated between staying with his grandmother and sleeping wherever he could. He was later expelled from school for paying more attention to his deejaying than his reading, writing and arithmetic lessons.
Possessing little more than boundless ambition, he ventured to Jamaica’s capital city Kingston in 1993 to pursue his musical calling. After moving in with his aunt, He moved in with his aunt, he took the name Mad Killer (in homage to Bounty Killer). Mojah soon found greater inspiration of late Rastafarian reggae icons Peter Tosh and Jacob Miller. He embraced Rastafarianism and grew his dreadlocks but his aunt could not accept his lifestyle so she asked him to leave. Homeless once again, he adopted the name Phantom and occasionally sought shelter, quite ironically, in a church.
He worked part-time as a baker and lifted speaker boxes for the venerable Jamaican sound system Kilimanjaro. “That (working with a soundsystem) was a good experience because you get to hear other artists deejay,” says Mojah, “and sometimes I would get a chance for a little chant on the microphone. So that helped me develop and that is where the energy start creates from.”
Through this experience, Mojah made friends with other artists including Ninja Man, who then introduced Phantom to Capleton. Through this friendship, Capleton suggested Mojah drop the “tom” (in his name) and adopting a “tan.” Phantom was renamed Fantan, with Mojah added by Jamaican elder Homer Harris, who has reportedly also chosen names for such reggae heavyweights as Luciano and Sizzla.
By end of the 1990’s, Mojah had his first recording opportunity by recording several songs for producer Tristan Palmer but they were never released. Somewhat disillusioned, he put his musical aspirations aside to take a government job rebuilding a gully that was destroyed by a flood. But it wasn’t long before he returned to his first love. He recorded “Search” and “Black Woman Feel Di Pain” in 1999 for producer Cleveland Scott’s small label Home Run, and both received modest recognition. “We never have the finances to push the songs to a height,” he says, “but those songs paved the way and that is when the public start to hear about Fantan Mojah.” Mojah struggled for several years prior to scoring two remarkable number one singles. First, he topped the Jamaican charts in late 2004 with “Hungry,” then, in January 2005, Mojah ascended to the premier position again with “Hail The King,” which is a testament to the Rastafarian faith that guided Mojah throughout his many hungry years. “Yeah, man, dem songs authentic,” says Mojah. “They come with a power to let people know the struggle we go through; we can’t forget it because the struggle motivates you to rise higher.” That motivation, he observes, is at the core of the roots reggae revival. “Jamaica get violent so we try to keep the music positive, because them type of songs can create a better energy. Upful music can uplift people and derogatory music can lead people astray. Dancehall ruled for a while; now a one drop [traditional] reggae rules so that just keep the better type of music alive.”
While shades of Capleton and Sizzla color his style, his lyrical content is far less controversial than those artists. However, at a Jamaica Carnival 2005 performance, Mojah stormed the stage, stole the microphone out of Machel Montano’s hand during the Trinidadian star’s set and attempted to perform his own songs. Mojah initially denied the action but within minutes cited it as ‘historic’. A few weeks later at the annual Western Consciousness event, Mojah was fined for cursing onstage, which prompted the police to abruptly end the show and resulted in a barrage of bottles being hurled at the stage -the first incident of this type in the 17-year history of this cultural reggae show. Mojah denied 
he cursed but readily paid the fine and apologized to his fans. The incident reportedly cost him a slot on the annual Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay.While Mojah’s infamous actions have branded him a troublemaker, he vows he will never again display such negative behavior. “You learn from your mistakes and we go past that stage now,” he says. “At that time we just bust to the world. You can’t cheat reggae music. You have to give people your fullest and that is all I wanted to do.” Joseph Bogdonavich* describes the artist best: “Fantan is loved by the people because he represents the people, the good and the bad in people.”
(Source: http://www.globalrhythm.net/WorldMusicFeatures/FantanMojah.cfm)
*Joseph Bogdonavich – reggae music producer who worked with artists such as Sizzla, Jah Cure, Richie Spice, Capleton as well as Fanton Mojah.
For more information on this artist, go to: www.myspace.com/mojahfantan
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