“Before, I used to say that all the songs on my albums were my favorite,” he says. “Now I say that Freeman is my favorite album.”

The album is certainly upbeat, with Spear taking rock music to task for its gloominess and openly embracing the name “Dready” for Rastafarians. “Rise Up” features the obligatory tribute to Marcus Garvey, a trademark of Spear’s work.

With his devotion to roots reggae, Spear seems almost uninterested in recent music—particularly when it comes to the recent revival of dancehall, a form of reggae.

“Dancehall been around for a long time. In my time, dancehall was there. But it’s an on and off thing. It fades out and comes again. If it was you [selling dancehall records] for six months, it will not be you for the next six months. Like fashion.”

He is much more generous about reggae music.

“Every musician tries to blend in some reggae,” he says. “It’s the only music that brings all people together, different races, different religions.”

Dub music, a Jamaican music form from the 1960s, also “will never go away. It’s always there for to find.”

“There are future artists,” he adds. “I might not know them but they will come and step into the light soon.”

—Staff writer Andrew R. Iliff can be reached at iliff@fas.harvard.edu.