My LIFE and I
I was born as Renato Tomei in 1982 in Naples, Italy, where I spent the first years of my life, before starting my journey, first across Italy, then to the rest of my World.
At the age of 14, I started my artistic experience with one of the first Italian reggae bands, the Living in The Ghetto, based in Viterbo, and I became one of its main leading voices. From 1998 to 2002, I have been touring Italy, participating in several festivals and events.
In 2000, I moved to Perugia, where I started my academic career at the University for Foreigners.
Over the years, I came closer to the Rastafari faith and principles, and ultimately the ancient land of Ethiopia, which I visited for the first time in 2004, and I got a New Name, Ras Tewelde.
Once back in Italy, I focused on new music productions, and started my solo career as a Reggae singer in 2005, with the single ‘Jah a di Teacha’.
In 2007, I went to Jamaica for the first time, where I was immediately involved in the Rasta community and the music production context, collaborating with prominent artists on the international scene. In the same year, I released my second single, 'Babylon is Falling', a combination with the Jamaican artist Lutan Fyah.
Between 2008 and 2010, while continuing collaborating with several European labels and artists, and performing across Europe, I also started performing in Africa, with an East African tour that brought me to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia.
In 2011, the Italian label Bizzarri Records produced my first album, 'One Way Ticket’, recorded between Jamaica, Ethiopia and Italy, and featuring many international artists, such as Sugar Minott, Josey Wales, Lt. Stitchie.
Between 2011 and 2016 I reinforced my collaboration with Bizzarri, producing many other singles and touring the world with the Livity band and Lion D, a great artist and human being.
In those years, the love for Ethiopia and the community of Shashamane inspired me to work on the establishment of a recording studio for local young artists, and I started the project ‘Youths of Shasha’ in 2012, aimed at empowering the artistic talents of Shashamane, to which many international singers and musicians have participated (amongst many, Bob Andy, Morgan Heritage, Tony Rebel, Capleton, Sizzla).
More recently, I have founded an NGO in Ethiopia, called IPO Ethiopia, and we are working on the development of sports for blind and visually impaired youth.
At the same time, the constant engagement in academic research in the field of Afro-Caribbean and postcolonial studies provided me with the possibility of spending most of my time between Ethiopia and Jamaica, where I conducted my PhD studies between 2009 and 2013.
Since then, I have been publishing extensively on this and other topics, such as contact languages, World Englishes, translanguaging and AUYL (African Urban Youth Languages), and started working at the University for Foreigners of Perugia, where, in 2021 I have been appointed Associate Professor of English Language and Translation.
Other than all these things, I am also a family man, father of three Ethio-Jamaican-Neapolitan lions, continuous source of love, pride, and inspiration.