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Christafari is a Christian reggae band formed in 1990. It is centered on the personality of ordained religious minister Mark "Tansoback" Mohr (born October 23, 1971), an American, born-again Christian. Until the age of 17, Mohr was a Rastafarian. The essential goal of Christafari is to promote Christianity to all people; including Rastafarians. ==Background== As a rebellious drug addicted youth, Mohr found an affinity for reggae music and became a marijuana grower and Rastafarian after a visit to Jamaica in 1986. He became well-versed in reggae music and learned Jamaican patois, the dialect prevalent in most reggae music. In 1989 the seventeen-year-old Mohr stopped using marijuana and committed his life to Christ at JH Ranch, a Christian camp. Two weeks later at another Christian youth camp Mohr wrote and performed his first gospel reggae song "Give Me Everything I Need" at a talent show. The bass-player that day said; "So you're no longer a Rastafarian, you're a Christafarian." The name stuck. Initially called the "Christafarians" Mark was backed by the "Steadfast" crew for his first few shows (September and October 1989). Eventually Mohr shortened the name to "Christafari", (pronounced Christ-a-far-eye) and pieced together his own band members. In 1993 Mohr enrolled in Biola University and received his ordination in 1997. Their first album, ''Reggae Worship'', reached the Billboard Charts and created a buzz in the industry, garnering the attention of DC Talk's tobyMac who then signed the group to Gotee Records. ''Soulfire'' proved to be an early success for the fledgeling Gotee Records. ''Valley Of Decision'' spent 15 weeks in the top 10 of ''Billboards "Top Reggae Albums" chart.〔 The label began as a production company. Originally intending to produce Out of Eden's ''Lovin' the Day'', they couldn't find a label to sign the act to, and so began distributing the band's material on their own. ''WordSound&Power'' marked Christafari's departure from Gotee and the birth of Mohr's Lion of Zion Entertainment record label. The album was nominated in four categories in the 2000 Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards. Christafari then released ''DubSound&Power'', the bands's first dub album and arguably the first Christian dub album ever recorded. After this the group released ''Palabra Sonido Y Poder'' (''Word Sound & Power''), the group's Spanish debut that featured the single "El Amor De Mi Vida" (No. 1 in 11 Latin American Countries). After this Christafari released ''Gravity'' (2003), ''Gravitational Dub'' (2004) and their first children's album ''Reggae Sunday School'' (2005). 2007 Marked the release of Christafari's ''To the Foundation'' and the birth of the Positive Music Agency. Christafari toured 180 shows in 20 countries in promotion of ''To the Foundation''. In early 2009 the group headed back into the studio to record their 20th anniversary album "No Compromise" with subsequent tours in Europe, Latin America and the USA. In late 2009 the band went back into their studio the "Zionic Sounds Dub Lab" to record their second Spanish album, ''Reggae De Redencion''. This project was released in mid-2010. In late 2011 they released two dub albums; ''Majestic Heights in Dub'' and ''Dub Shots''. They also released ''Gospel Reggae Praise'', a compilation project. In 2012, Christafari released ''Reggae Worship: A Roots Revival'', their first worship album in almost 20 years. This breakthrough album once again catapulted them onto the Billboard Charts. The CD debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Reggae Chart, No. 10 on ''Billboard''s Christian Albums Chart and No. 39 on the Independent Albums Chart. Nearly nine months after this album was released, Christafari jumped to No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Reggae Albums Chart. This marks the first time in ''Billboards history that a Christian artist has secured the top spot. The band was recently featured on ABC Family's The 700 Club, and TBN filmed a live concert appearance in Hawaii for a special broadcast. Christafari has also started their own film company, "Rank and File", and filmed various music videos such as Christafari's "Try Jah Love", "Taking in the Son/Brilla Sobre Mi", Jennifer Howland's "Righteous Revolution", and three videos from Avion Blackman's ''Third World Girl'' album. Over the past five years Christafari has had a busy tour schedule. The band currently does around 100 shows a year in about 20 countries. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christafari」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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