OUT of Guyana, the proverbial ‘Land of Many Waters’, comes First Born, a musical group which began with eight young Guyanese men, gradually became five members, and is now down to three.

Guyanese by birth, Rastafarians by choice, they are grounded in the roots-reggae culture of Jamaica; thus they deliver a strain of reggae music that exudes spirituality, culture, tremendous brotherly love, and originality.

First conceived as an a cappella outfit in the 1990s, they achieved a breakthrough in 1997 with a live showcase at the Freddy McGregor Concert, held at the Guyana National Park by promoter Walter ‘Wally’ Fraser’s Vizion Sounds Records.
First Born’s performance at that event so impressed Wally and the late great Dennis Emmanuel Brown with their unique originality, that Wally immediately signed them to his Vizion Sounds Recording Company, while Dennis Brown offered his special vocals on their debut single, ‘Repatriation Time’.

‘Repatriation Time’ featured prominently on their acclaimed debut album ‘Exodus Chapter XIII Verse 2’, which was recorded at Leggo’s Studio in Kingston, Jamaica with saxophone contribution and musical direction from the extraordinaire Dean Fraser.

The album earned the group two Guyana National Awards for Best New Artistes and Best New Group.

Since joining the Guyana and Jamaica-based Vizion Sounds Records family, the group has produced five albums, namely Exodus, Exodus Remix, Wake Up Call, Confident, and Iritis. First Born’s talent, craftsmanship and presence — both in studio and on stage — has blossomed and matured almost beyond belief.

In September 2002, they travelled and opened for international reggae dancehall artiste, Shaggy, in Suriname.

In November 2002, they were invited to Jamaica to participate in celebrating the coronation of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, which was attended by His Majesty’s grandson. The group was deeply honoured, when asked, to perform the National Anthem at the Guyana Miss Universe Pageant and the annual Boxing Day Boxing Championships of 2002. They culminated that year’s home front engagements with several performances at the flag-raising ceremony commemorating the anniversary of Guyana’s Independence.

In March 2003, they opened for Sizzla at the Block Party concert leading into Sizzla’s ‘Rise to the Occasion’ birthday celebration in 2004 at Caymanas Park, Jamaica, where they shared stage with Coco Tea, Beres Hammond, Sizzla, Marcia Griffiths, Richie Stephens, Chezidek and many more.

Since first hitting the streets, First Born have indeed been making some serious strides, not letting up on their goal to make a name for themselves as a prominent reggae band. And, with their hardworking manager Walter ‘Wally’ Fraser, they have been making serious inroads.

Their 2005 single, ‘Irits’, has been getting good airplay on the airwaves, peaking at number 4 on the Mega Jamz Reggae Chart. The singles ‘How Are We Gonna Survive’ with Buju Banton and ‘Muzik Is The Rock’ done with Gregory Isaacs are also in heavy rotation. Also released in 2005, the singles ‘Early In The Morning’ (remix), ‘Love Trap’ and ‘War I See’ are growing in popularity.

Making the rounds on the music video channels from the group are the video for ‘Irits’ and the single ‘Bounce Them Head’ (both directed by Steven Ventura), and ‘Way of Life’ with label mate LMJ (directed by Ras Kasa). The group has now release the new single, “Help Someone”.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more on Troy Azore, Trayon Garrett, and Rolston Richmond – members of the outstanding First Born group that  is: ‘Forever Inspirational; Reaching Souls; Teaching Brotherhood, Obedience, Righteousness…Naturally’.