Ras Ajai, the movie star and musician who played Claudie Massop in Bob Marley: One Love, has been shot and killed in Waterford, St. Catherine, Jamaica. He was 47.
The artist, born Brian Todd Boucher, was walking along a roadway with a 37-year-old man at around 9pm on Saturday, August 1, when armed thugs travelling in a car reportedly opened fire. He was hit multiple times and pronounced dead at Spanish Town General Hospital. The other man is undergoing treatment.
Ras Ajai: From ghetto gospel to the big screen
Ras was a reggae and dancehall recording artist, singer and songwriter, widely recognised for his self-described "ghetto gospel" style, which blended the realities of street life with uplifting messages and a mature perspective. He had been raised in the Waterford area by his adoptive parents; his father was a pastor who insisted he go to church every Sunday, where he first developed his love for music.
In 2012, he released his breakout single Pack Up Yuh Tings. Five years later, in 2017, he released his biggest hit, "Smoking Loud", an ode to marijuana.
Turning to acting in 2024, he gained a whole new audience for his role in Bob Marley: One Love as Claudius "Claudie" Massop, the JLP political enforcer and later leader of the peace movement, who was integral in getting Bob Marley to return to Jamaica to play the legendary One Love peace concert in 1978. He appeared in the movie using his real name and mingled with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle when they attended the premiere in Jamaica.
Tributes flood in
Fans paid tribute on Instagram after the news of his death. One wrote: "My heart is broken in 2… Ras was a real one!! love that dude so much!!"
Another added: "This man was one of the most ambitious and motivating people I have ever known. What an unfair way to leave the earth when he still had so much more work to do here."
A third chimed in: "RIP Brian you put in the work to become successful."
A fourth shared: "RIPmy childhood mentor all now mi cah believe."
A fifth simply penned: "This is terrible news I just wish it wasn't true."
The St Catherine South Police are investigating the fatal incident.
