In partnership with MOJA Arts Festival, the Charleston Library Society is honored to present radio host, producer and lowcountry legend Osei Chandler of Roots Musik Karamu – the beloved and longest running Caribbean music programs on SC Public Radio, first broadcast in 1979. Hosted in conversation with MOJA Arts Festival Director Charlton Singleton, Brooklyn-born Chandler will speak to his early experiences establishing roots in Charleston, the process of building his cornerstone radio program and the importance of this foundation in more than 30 years of creating opportunities to give back to his adopted lowcountry community. Over the course of the conversation we will learn from his deep well of knowledge on Reggae and Roots Afro Pop and perhaps even hear excerpts from his expansive signature catalogue of music.
About Roots Musik Karamu
Roots Musik Karamu (RMK) broadcast its first show on April 21, 1979 and has been going strong ever since. In that span, producer and host Osei Chandler has produced over 4,000 hours of the weekly two-hour program. Karamu is the Kiswahili word for “feast”, and the show centers on reggae music, bringing listeners the sounds of calypso, soca, blues, jazz, gospel, Juju, and more. Osei also offers Roots Rap (interviews with artists and other special guests) and maintains the RMK Community Bulletin Board. RMK is one of the longest-running public radio programs in the country.
About Osei Chandler
Osei Chandler has over forty years of experience in social services with emphasis on rehabilitation, career counseling, community service, and alternative education administration. Over this same timeline, he has worked as a radio host, producer of jazz, world music and reggae programs (including 4 years at college radio station WMMC) and has recently been inducted into the Lowcountry Music Hall of Fame.
About Charlton Singleton
A native of Awendaw, South Carolina, Charlton Singleton began his musical studies at the age of three on the piano. He would then go on to study the organ, violin, cello, and the trumpet throughout elementary, middle and high school. In 1994, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from South Carolina State University. Since that time, he has taught music at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, as well as being an adjunct faculty member at the College of Charleston. In 2008 Charlton co-founded and served as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra; an 18-piece jazz ensemble of some of the finest professional musicians in the Southeast and the resident big band in Charleston, SC. He remained in this position until 2018. Singleton is also the organist and choir director at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Charleston, South Carolina. In November of 2016 he was named the inaugural Artist in Residence at the Gaillard Center in downtown Charleston. As a performer, Singleton leads his own ensembles that vary in size and style. He is a member of a new ensemble called Ranky Tanky, a quintet that interprets the sounds of Gullah from the Southeast Coast of the United States. In addition to performing, he is also a speaker, composer, and arranger. In 2021 he was the recipient of the SC Governor’s Award, which honors arts organizations, patrons, artists, members of the business community, and government entities who maximize their roles as innovators, supporters, and advocates for the arts. As of 2023 Charlton Singleton was named the Artistic Director for the MOJA Arts Festival.
