Meta & the Cornerstones

Born in Senegal, West Africa, lead singer of Meta and The Cornerstones, Meta Dia, discovered his love for music and desire to be a musician at a very young age. Listening to Reggae greats Bob Marley and Gregory Isaacs helped nurture his admiration and true appreciation for all types of music. As a self-taught musician, by age 14 he was performing on the street and stages of his hometown Dakar, Senegal. In 2000, Meta formed his first band YALLA SUUREN (God Bless), which was nominated for Best Hip-Hop/Reggae Group by the French Cultural Center the same year. Within two years, Meta had become one of the premier pioneering voices of the Hip-Hop culture in West Africa. After relocating to the United States, Meta immediately began collaborating with artists such as Sean Blackman, and Hip-Hop Ambassador Toni Blackman. Shortly after settling in New York City, he formed his visionary band, Meta and The Cornerstones.

With varying ethnicity, religion, and musical influences, Meta and The Cornerstones’ sound is a melting pot rooted in diversity, strength, and unity as they combine their creative differences from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean bringing togetherness, peace and understanding. Meta and The Cornerstones channels Roots Reggae while simultaneously breathing new life into the genre, thus creating what critics have called a “soul-pounding spiritual experience” during their live performances. Inspired by Alpha Blondy and Lucky Dubee, they have shared the stage with Reggae stars Luciano, Steel Pulse, Clinton Fearon, Israel Vibration, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Gentleman and Tanya Stephens amongst others. In 2007, the band was personally invited by Senegalese-born international superstar Youssou N’Dour to perform at his annual African Ball concert at the Nokia Theater in New York. The following year Meta and The Cornerstones proudly released its first album entitled “Forward Music”. Of this work Clive Chin; Jamaican producer for The Wailers, Dennis Brown, and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, notes, “Meta and The Cornerstones have taken us back to the foundation of reggae music”.

As he continues to establish new grounds, Meta is now the first African artist to be signed to the iconic record label VP Records, the #1 source for Reggae Music. Through VP, Meta and The Cornerstones released their second album 'Ancient Power' on April 30th 2013. Recorded at the Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston Jamaica, 'Ancient Power' links Africa to Jamaica by paying tribute to the ageless sounds of reggae preserved by the history of its legends. The 15-track work features Reggae legend U-Roy, as well as today’s leading artists Capleton and Damian Marley. The album was given many top 10 ratings by worldwide reggae websites like Reggaeville (#4 best reggae album 2013), United Reggae, Worldareggae, Last FM and radio stations like Rythm Vault International in California and RFI in France.

After the release of 'Ancient Power' Meta and The Cornerstones have been touring to promote their album in Europe, Africa and the USA playing at legendary reggae and world music festivals such as Reggae on The River in California, Summerjam in Germany, Mundial in The Netherlands, Gnaoua in Morocco, Musa in Portugal and Afro Pfingsten in Switzerland. A new single 'Zion Stereo' was released in 2014 and marks the beginning of a new path towards a third and more personal album for Meta Dia.

By the end of 2014 a tour in the Pacific was realised counting eight shows in New Zealand inspiring Meta to write an acoustic song called 'Aotearoa'. It was released as a free download thanking the generous people of the island. Shows in Ivory Coast and Meta's homeland Senegal made way for Meta and The Cornerstones into Africa early 2015 and European fans could see the band perform at festivals like Reggae Sun Ska in France, Reggae Jam in Germany, Shambala and WOMAD in England and Rototom in Spain. In that same year, Meta and The Cornerstones started recording their third album called "HIRA" at he Real World Studios of Peter Gabriel in England. Mixing world music genres with roots reggae and lyrically expressing Meta Dia’s spiritual background and growth, HIRA seeks to trespass boundaries and embrace differences between people, cultures and religions. Moreover, HIRA calls for spiritual unity, religious tolerance and finding oneself. HIRA will be released on February 17 2017 by Dibyz Music and distributed by Baco Distribution/Believe Digital worldwide.