H.R.

Former frontman of the Washington, D.C.-based punk and thrash metal outfit Bad Brains, H.R. (Ras Hailu Gabriel Joseph I) has long been characterized as iconoclastic, enigmatic, and angst-ridden. A committed Rastafarian, he crafts material that fuses singing, rap, and African chanting into urgent calls for social and economic equality alongside the eradication of oppression and racism. He performed with Bad Brains throughout the 1980s yet repeatedly departed to focus on independent work, returning only for brief financial gain. Within the group he introduced his distinctive reggae rhythms, which the band labeled “rasta-core,” but he ultimately grew frustrated as audiences gravitated toward its hardcore intensity rather than the message of love he sought to deliver. In contrast to the Brains’ jagged, chaotic force, his own reggae approach proved far gentler, evident on the late-’80s release Singin’ in the Heart (SST), cut during the interval separating the band’s albums I Against I and Quickness. H.R. parted ways permanently in 1989 and has since concentrated on building his solo output.