Obadiah Mohanza's music is all about possibility. The street savvy R&B singer writes about injustice, respect, love, beating the odds and building your own future. A native of Jamaica, now based in Toronto, the 26-year-old has a perspective that gives his hip-hop-tinged soul an edge, a realness, with light at the end of the tunnel.

In his original songs, he addresses the wrong turns in life, violent tendencies in relationships, love for the human experience, equality and freedom of choice. Hitting on topics with which many can identify or understand, the penetrating song “Street Life,” produced by CoLa, became an immediate hit on Toronto's urban radio station Flow 93.5 FM. The track made it to #1 within weeks, and held its place at the top for four consecutive weeks!

“‘Street Life’ is my own experience with some people I hang around with, the things I see happening here in Canada,” explains Obadiah Mohanza. “In Jamaica, it’s a different way of life down there and to come up here and see that people are suffering from the same things that we are suffering from there, and they have all these opportunities, but they’re still on the street trying, it’s understandable because some people aren’t coming from the best homes. They don’t have role models to look up to. I touch on all of that in the song.”

Born Mohanza Kelly in Jamaica, he was nicknamed “Obadiah” by his grandfather who won a Derby bet with a racehorse with the same name. He declared his young grandson a good luck charm and even though his upbringing wasn’t privileged, Obadiah learned from his experiences. “I just took it how it came and observed it” he says.

Obadiah grew up in the church and has strong Christian beliefs, wanting to make a difference. He started singing in the youth choir, but he was also drawn to dancehall, soul and reggae music. “The message in reggae music is something that I can relate to my own life,” says Obadiah.  “Back in Jamaica, we were barely making ends meet and that’s what reggae music is — you sing about the struggles that people go through.” Obadiah's life started a transition after migrating to Canada in 2001 and after a rough start, he began to explore music.

Obie soon found out about Central Tech high school, which had a remarkable music program, including two in-house recording studios. He transferred mid semester from another school in Rexdale and immersed himself in recording engineering. “I’d hang around the studio and learn stuff in the environment,” he says. “Being in Canada, I saw the different possibilities for things that I could do with myself and I started reflecting.” Obadiah cut some tracks at Central Tech, including “Keep The Dream Alive” to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. After graduating from Central Tech  he worked at The Remix Project, a government-funded studio which allows up-and-comers to sign up, come in for an interview process, and get approval to record there for free.

Obadiah was a past competitor on Canadian Idol's season 2,  where he made it to the top 32 round of the competition and in this experience he realized his goal of becoming an established artist was very possible given that he is willing to remain persistent in his endeavour.

The Remix Project provided the resources for Obadiah to explore his music and the business surrounding a successful artist. From touring with Canadian band "Bedouin Soundclash to meeting the former Governor General Michaelle Jean, Obadiah has keep close ties with the Remix Project where he recorded such tracks as “Street Life,” “War” and “One In A Million.”  Now he is an audio engineer at St. Alban's Boy's and Girl's Club in Toronto and also facilitates many other Arts based youth programs.

Obadiah, even at 26, would like to make a difference. “As a person and as a musician, I’m a big advocate of humanitarian acts. I think my purpose is to help the less fortunate in any way I can and use music as a tool to really get to them, as a medium to communicate with them,” says Obadiah. “So I see myself in the future owning some enterprises, but at the same time I’m going to go back to my home country or to Africa or wherever help is needed and try and set up a studio. I’m trying to use music as a tool to promote positive change.”

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