Raul Blaze prospering from the foundation laid by Miss Lou

“Without Miss Lou, my natural talents in the arts as a writer and poet would not be recognized today. I would not be able to create a career out of them. I also would not have been considered a cultural ambassador.” –Raul Blaze
What was once discriminated against is now how many talented Jamaicans are making a living. Miss Lou ignored the negatives, some of which came from her parents, who referred to the language as ‘loose talk’ ‘careless speech’ and ‘a sign of low breeding,’ and turned Patois into a career.

Patois, in turn, made her famous and a cultural ambassador of Jamaica. Because of her defiance, she has laid the foundation for future comedians. After Miss Lou, there was Miss Zella, Johnny, Oliver, Titus and so many others. Now, a new generation of comedians have been birthed – the Social Media Vloggers, and Raul Blaze is one of the newest on the block.

A graduate of the Glenmuir High School and a son of the soil of Clarendon, Raul holds a degree in Spanish with a minor in International Relations from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. He also has a Law Degree and was a Cultural Ambassador for Jamaica in the country of Japan where he lived for five years. While in Japan, he organized several Jamaican cultural events, which have further propelled Jamaica’s culture in that country. He is now an Honary Goodwill Friendly Envoy of the City of Toyaman in Japan.

Raul has been writing dialect poetry since the age of 15. However, he has never performed for the public until now. He has written for others who have performed his work during several competitions. Raul was also a member of the Taylor Hall Drama Society at the UWI, where he first performed on stage, but never his own material.

VLOGGING CAREER
He first performed his own work on his Instagram page in the year 2017, when he kicked off his Vlogging career. “I had so many things to say and if I kept them inside, they would suffocate me. This was my way to let it all out,” he stated, in response to his reason for starting this career. His four main characters are Jacqui Duphraetees, the uptowner, Clicka Speng, the gangsta, Tanisha Goodas, the ghetto fabulous one and Maas Winchell, the old country man.

Ignoring his fears which included self-doubt, and discouraging words from the ‘negative nancies’, he pushed through and hosted his first show in New York City in July of 2019. That triggered a call from his followers for him to come to other locations. Since New York, he has hosted shows in Florida and his most recent one in Jamaica, his island home, all within the space of two months, July and August 2019.

After his show he was invited to headline Johnny’s Comedy Bar Live which would be his first time performing stand-up comedy out of character. The reviews were excellent, with Johnny saying that not many can transition from online to live performance, further stating that he did well.

He currently has his eyes on London and Toronto for upcoming shows, but is hard at work organizing his next show, which will be in Washing DC.

Taking the route of Miss Lou once more, he is also working on a Jamaican Labrish Book, his collection of Jamaican Dialect Poetry, which he is hoping will be used as literature books in Jamaican schools.
The journey continues.

Rosalee D. Wood -rosawwesternmirror@gmail.com