K’Neil Ablaze was born into a family of eight children. He was born in Jamaica at the Kingston Public Hospital. He grew up in St Catherine’s (Spanish town – Portmore) & also in St Andrew.
Ablaze realised his conscious love for music when he was still in pre-school.
K’Neil says ‘I would sing recorded songs on neighbourhood sound systems, my first remake song in primary school was on a project for taking care of the environment”.
Ablaze went to McCauley primary in Spanish town, St Catherine at the time, then Lawrence Tavern Primary, in St. Andrew, then on to Calabar High School. His personal love of music deepened in High school where his friends were writing & performing their own songs. These are people who are currently influential in Jamaican music including writing, engineering or performing.
After high school, K’Neil Ablaze connected with community engineer & aspiring producer Andre Walker founder of Mystique Productions.
He also made connections with aspiring recording artists and producers at U.W.I. & also in St. Catherine and Kingston.
K’Neil entered the Portmore Star search competition where I fell out at semi-finals. Strangely. This was a competition also won by the acclaimed Gyptian.
Ablaze, had various aliases given to him by friends who admired his writing ability.
“Artistes who I admired varied from every genre of music. Mostly Reggae, Soul, R&b, Rap, Dancehall and culture. I never had a dislike for the art form of music.” Say’s Ablaze.
K’Neil Ablaze always admired Rastafarian music, such as “Garnet silk, Peter Tosh, John Holt and all the legends”. He learned to love listening to this type of music mainly because of his Father, close family members and friends.
Living in Spanish town St. Catherine’s K’Neil experienced firsthand or (via third party media), the effects of crime, injustice, hard life, poverty and suffering felt by many people in the world.
He began to realise the power of music and the effect it had on people. ‘I loved dancing. I danced for as long as I could remember. It was my first real passion. I danced in the neighbourhoods such as those in St. Andrew and Spanish town, at parties, clubs etc., anywhere that I could. I met friends who were also great dancers. I eventually, stopped dancing in the late ’90s to early 2000’s” stated Ablaze.
