“Run Rasta Run” by Laylah Arruda brings the São Paulo singer and songwriter’s voice back to the core of Brazilian reggae. Co-written with Novíssimo Edgar and produced by Marcos Maurício, the track appears on her 2024 album Tanto, released through Feminine Hi-Fi Records.

Arruda, a leading figure in Brazil’s sound-system culture and co-founder of Feminine Hi-Fi, has spent over two decades shaping a scene that connects reggae, dub, and urban music. Her verses here unfold as social statement and street chronicle: “Sociedade fajuta / Que é bruta e culpa / Ativista na luta” sets the tone for a lyric that refuses complacency and exposes hypocrisy within a corrupt order.

Maurício’s production locks a militant one-drop rhythm under Arruda’s commanding vocal phrasing. A deep bassline steadies the tempo while organ chords and rim-shot snare hits keep the cadence tight. Layers of delay and reverb situate the sound inside the dub lineage, yet the phrasing stays rooted in contemporary hip-hop delivery, aligning with the album’s crossings between reggae, dub, R&B and rap.

The repetition of “Rasta run, go rasta run” drives the rhythm as a chant aligned with the snare hits, echoing the call-and-response phrasing typical of Brazilian sound-system sessions. The vocal sits high in the mix, cut with delay and short echo tails, linking Arruda’s performance to the dub tradition that shaped her early work.

Listen to the single and purchase a copy of the album HERE