Today I have the opportunity to share with you one of my favorite bands. SOJA is a reggae-rock band, and they already have a very successful career in music. I saw them once in Mexico City, back in December of 2017. I'm not a person who likes or has had the opportunity to go to many concerts, but I loved SOJA's performance, and I will see them again if I got a chance.
Soldiers of Jah Army
Left to right: Bobby Lee, Ryan Berty, Hellman Escorcia, Jacob Hemphill, Patrick O’Shea, Rafael Rodriguez, Ken Brownell, Trevor Young - Source
What I love about SOJA, besides the great rhythm, is the messages on their songs. They have that revolutionary feeling. Their lyrics are about reflection, social injustice, growing up, defend our beliefs, love, and many other upbeat topics.
As you can see in the video, they are prevalent in Brazil, I don't know why, but they always have more dates and presentations on their tours. On their YouTube videos, you can see people commenting in Portuguese. SOJA has a love of a whole nation, and I'm a little Mexican that loves them too.
The song above is one of my favorites. It makes me feel the privileges I have and the opportunities I have missed. I'm not the wealthiest person (yey), but I am very thankful. I can recognize that I am very "lucky," with my condition and all the problems I have, I feel blessed with the right family, a wonderful wife, and a fantastic opportunity to work in HIVE and do what I love. It's not perfect, but I make an effort every day. Music is one of the main things that keep me moving and help me in difficult times.
I want to speak for people who don’t have microphones.
Our goal as a band is to stick up for the human race. We see the world, and we try to make it better in the limited time we have here.
Jacob Hemphill – Lead vocals, Guitar
SOJA is an eight-member band. I believe that six are from the USA, one is from Puerto Rico and the other is from Venezuela. This diversity helps them communicate better with the fans when they are touring.
I found SOJA when I was going through a relationship break with an ex-girlfriend. I will not go into details, but the song's name is "Not Done Yet," lol, and at that time, it hurts, man... When I think about it, I feel dumb, but emotions can betray us at one time. "Not Done Yet" was the first song, but I kept exploring, and I've found more than one gem.
Another song that helped me during hard times was "When We Were Younger", this song talks about that as a teenager or in our early 20s, we can think that we have all of many of the answers to our questions, but as we grow up, we realize that our questions are more complex. Those answers may not satisfy ys anymore. As I talked about in previous blogs, I was a Mormon for three years, and I thought I knew I had the answers, then something changes, I changed, and the answers turned into questions in front of me. This song helped me process those feelings and realized that life changes, and no matter what, we have to move on.
This is a photo of one of SOJA's latest tour. - Source
To end this small but good-hearted review of one of my favorite bands, I share with you this song. By listening to it, you will understand why I chose the name of my title. This is a cover song, and I just heard it today. I've listened to the original music before, but today was the first time I heard SOJA's version. I think it's very cool, that's why I say that "Nothing Compares 2 Them".
