Karbon D Hardone ‘guided by the spirit’

He’s called Karbon D Hardone, sometimes written as Karbon D Hard 1, and he has an interesting physics-meets-chemistry-meets-life kind of explanation as to how he came up with the name. But, it all makes sense and includes blackness, energy, electricity and the element on the periodic table.

“Carbon is the definition of blackness, the element of life force, the fundamental backbone of all known life on Earth,” said Karbon, who went through a few name changes before settling on this moniker, which aligns with his concept of self, his spirituality and the music that he creates. 

The up-and-coming Rastafarian singer, who is managed by Denise ‘Isis’ Miller, is fuelled with a good measure of “substance over hype” in both his approach and his message, and whether he is making natural roots juice or roots music, his goal is the same, to be the best at whatever he does.

“I just released a track called Jamaica in January and it is getting a lot of traction, bringing the people the awareness of our true power. It talks about Dutty Boukman who went to Haiti to help liberate the peole, it talks about Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh. Right when it was released there were some producers here for Bob Marley’s Earthstrong … Kingland Heights … and they saw me and decided that I was the artiste they wanted to do some work with … so I give thanks,” Karbon, whose government name is Kemar Anderson. 

He actually has three tracks which were released in a short space of time –   Jamaica, Firm Right Now and Careless Ethiopians and Karbon is happy at this sign of progress in his career. 

Over the Labour Day weekend, Kabon did a trio of shows and gave performances which still have him and his manager smiling. 

“I did the annual Koromanti Fest in Charles Town, Buff Bay on the Sunday … May 24 …, and the reception was wonderful. Then I performed  at I-Nation Innercity Dub in Tivoli and I was featured by I-Nation alongside Samory-I with the legendary Johnny Clarke and the people received it very well,” Karbon said, pausing to give a shout-out to Samory-I, whom he grew up with in Kencot, and whose album launch he was attending.

“As kids growing up in the tenement, there was a Rastaman who use to call us and tell us to sing for him. He identified me and Samory as the ones with talent,” Karbon said, as an aside.

The third show he performed on was Sugar Minott’s 70th birthday celebration at his studio on Labour Day and, although there were several established acts present, Karbon felt good that he was able to hold his own, and he even curiously credits what he called “the spirits of the ancestors”.

“Turbulence went out and did his thing … and that was a major thing right there for I come right after, I have to maintain that standard also. While I was performing, the spirit of the ancestors came upon I and told I to step up on the little step and go on the sound box. And after being on the soundbox, the spirit tell I ‘You can go on the roof.’ Because there was a big light on the roof with Sugar Minott’s name the spirit told me to go there. And the people were astonished. I came back down safe because of the guidance of the spirit,” Karbon related.

Karbon, when asked if he was a “full time artiste” said ‘Yes” and shared some advice he learned from Beenie Man, who is always in his community.

“There is artiste from the past who is doing some inDrive thing … I won’t call his name … and Beenie Man seh ‘Is either you are an artiste or yuh a do something else. From yuh a artiste that mean seh yuh haffi go through the thorn and the thistle  .. yuh haffi go through the struggle and see other people a grow and know that you have to invest in your craft to reach the level that you see other people at’. So, I am definitely a full-time artiste,” Karbon told The Gleaner.

Born in Kingston, Karbon was raised in Broadleaf, Manchester, and, his bio states that he developed a love for reggae and dancehall at a young age, writing his first song as a teenager and performing in talent competitions. He  gained recognition as an intricate part of Yaadcore's 12 Yaad Records label, with the first noteworthy song being Highgrade Maka in 2019. Included is his growing catalogue also are songs, such as Fully Awake, She’s Mine and Hesitate.

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