Jr. Ras is a local Solo Artist from Vanuatu. His real name is Abdallah Jacques. He was born on the 2nd of November 1987. The Solo Artist name of Jr. Ras was a name he developed in resemblance of the crowning of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I who was crowned on the 2nd of November 1930 as ruler of Ethiopia. His date of birth and month both dates back to this historic event in 1930 and that’s how he got his Solo Artist name. Jr. Ras also hails from a family music dynasty. His father was a band member of the band known as Melanesian Wave, which was a popular pop band that used to record and perform live in Vanuatu back in the early 90s. At that time Jr. Ras was a little boy and he would sometimes go and see his father and the band perform live in a multitude of crowd. He later moved to Australia and lived in Sydney for 3 years between 1997 to 1999 attending primary school at Tempe Public School when his father was on Scholarship. He was never a fan of music. Jr. Ras was mainly involved in sports at a young age. Music was not his passion. While living in Australia Jr. Ras played for Marrickville Canterbury Soccer Club which is one of the oldest football clubs in Australia as a forward striker wearing the number 9.

When Jr. Ras returned to Vanuatu in 2000, he continued to play soccer but not on a professional level. Between 2007 to 2009 He played for under 19 Seveners Football club as a left back defender and helped to take the club to final winning 1st place. He also played for under 23 and assisted the club reach final also winning 1st spot. He further assisted the club to get to premier league maintaining a 4-season tournament against big names in Port Vila soccer league. He maintained his interest in soccer but played for fun as the sports business in Vanuatu was not as professional as it was in Australia. He mainly focused on his education. Between 2009 to 2010 Jr. Ras quit sports and focused on music while he was also studying. He joined a band called Mystik Yutz and they performed cover songs composed mainly by modern Jamaican Artists like Sizzla, Capleton, Lutan Fyah, Jah Mason, Alborosie, Chuck Fenda, & Anthony B. The band later dissolved in the year of 2011 when a new management team tried to take over the affairs of the band. In 2013 Jr. Ras left Vanuatu and went on a 3-year scholarship in Fiji that was sponsored by the Government of Vanuatu majoring in History & Politics. In 2015 Jr. Ras completed his studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Degree (BA). In 2014 when Jr. Ras was on scholarship, he got a chance to perform live for the University of the South Pacific (USP) Social Night at the Vodafone Arena which attracted over 5,000 students every year. He performed his hit singles “The Chains” on Mama Africa Riddim originally produced by Bizarri Records from Italy and “Pasifika” on Contagious Riddim originally produced by Troyton Music from Jamaica. Between 2014 to 2015 while still on scholarship he went on to perform for various Music Festivals in Suva Fiji as a Solo Artist. He was also invited by a USP Professor to perform his song “Pasifika” in front of his lecture which was quite a rare opportunity for students studying there and received a voucher on behalf of his students. During that same period, he was also invited by the Fiji French Commissioner to perform at his residence during the celebration of La Fete de la Musique. In 2015, at his final year of studying he formed a band called Modern Roots which composed of mainly Vanuatu students and they performed live at the USP Open Day attracting visitors from all across the campus.

In 2016 when Jr. Ras returned to Vanuatu, he formed a New band carrying the same name Modern Roots. The band did not achieve prominence in its early stages of performance and they were only performing live but never recorded an album. He was experimenting to see where this band would take him in the near future. Between 2018 to 2019 Jr. Ras took the band to the studio and they recorded their first EP album which was called “Nakamalites” but never released the album. In 2019 Jr. Ras took the band Modern Roots to Fest Napuan for the very first time and they put on a show that attracted the whole population of Port Vila City. Between 2020 and 2021 Jr. Ras continued to perform with the band at La Fete de La Musique and Fest Napuan but he never released their album which was recorded back in 2019. In that same year Jr. Ras teamed up with DJ Rick Howe from ABC Radio Australia to promote his hit single “Bonne Vibes” recorded on Vinyllionairs Riddim which was originally produced by Giddimani Records from USA. In 2020 his hit single “Bonne Vibes” was placed on top of the best 20 songs played by ABC Radio Australia between 2019 and 2020. He flew the flag of Vanuatu in one of Australia’s biggest radio network by becoming the first Solo Artist from Vanuatu to rank #1 song that was played for over a course of 12 months and stayed on top for the whole time.

In 2021 Jr. Ras formed his own label called Jr. Ras Entertainment and then signed an “International Digital Export Deal” with Zojak World Wide a distributor that was based in Miami Florida, USA for a 3-year export deal of musical digital products. The contract has been renewed since then and is still alive granting his label protection and full copyrights over all his digital catalog. His music and catalog have been licensed and monetized and is still streaming to this day. In that same year Jr. Ras exported one of his first projects called “Ignite The Spirit Riddim” which was a collaboration to uplift Vanuatu Solo Artist by getting them into international streaming platforms for the very first time in their solo career. In the early years of 2022 Jr. Ras was invited by ABC Radio Australia to do a 15-minute live interview by phone in regards to issues to do with copyrights in Vanuatu and the upcoming Vanuatu National Music Policy that was to be legislated in the Vanuatu parliament. The Vanuatu National Music policy is yet to be debated in parliament. Jr. Ras later released another single with Rim Selekta Music on Tamtam Riddim called “Haffi Protect Your Culture” which is licensed and monetized and is still streaming to this day. In 2023, Jr. Ras finally exported the EP album of his band Modern Roots called “Nakamalites” for the first time in Vanuatu’s Music History. The album is still streaming to this day. He also released an Afrobeat single called “Umbableh” from his upcoming album. His next big upcoming hit is his own solo album “The Conqueror” which was produced by his longtime friend and musician Airside Records. The album has already been recorded back in 2022 but is yet to be released on all digital streaming platforms.