Christafari

Christafari is an American Christian reggae band founded in Los Angeles in 1989 by Mark Mohr, a young musician who, after a radical religious conversion at the age of 17, decided to reconcile his Christian faith with his passion for reggae. The name "Christafari", a contraction of "Christ" and "Rastafari", reflects the band's desire to offer a spiritual alternative to the often Rastafarian and mystical message of traditional reggae, by proposing reggae centered on the Gospel. From the outset, Christafari has adopted a missionary approach, using music as a vehicle for evangelism around the world. The group's debut album, Reggae Worship: The First Fruits, was released in 1993 on Gotee Records, a label founded by TobyMac of dc Talk, and marked the official debut of gospel reggae on the American Christian scene. A series of albums followed, blending worship, roots reggae, dancehall and Caribbean influences, including Soulfire (1995), Valley of Decision (1996), WordSound&Power (1999), Dubsound&Power (2000) and Palabra Sonido y Poder (2000), the latter sung entirely in Spanish. Christafari gradually developed an international, multilingual ministry, recording albums in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Swahili, in order to reach a worldwide audience. In the 2000s and 2010s, the band continued to produce regular Christian reggae albums such as Gravity (2003), To the Foundation (2007), No Compromise (2012), Reggae Worship: A Roots Revival (2013), Anthems (2016) and Original Love (2018), while also undertaking missionary tours on five continents. Alongside his studio albums, Christafari also offers numerous Christian reggae cover projects and dub versions of his own albums. Carried by the voice and preaching of Mark Mohr, accompanied by his wife Avion Blackman (vocals and bass) and a collective of musicians from the USA, Latin America, the Pacific and Africa, the band cultivates a universal message through a rigorously roots-based and authentic musical aesthetic. Christafari stands out for its longevity, missionary commitment (over 100 countries visited) and lasting influence in the gospel reggae niche, becoming the first Christian reggae group to enter the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. In the 2020s, Christafari continues its mission with the albums Musicianaries: At Any Cost (2020), Prophetic Dub (2025) and Sounds of Salvation (2025).

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