William David has gone by many names, but his philosophy has stayed the same. His emphasis on pursuing the human condition is ever present in his reggae beats and lyrics. The Philadelphia-born artist is working on his upcoming EP and has a slew of mix tapes already released.

The Chronicle sat down with the busy artist to find out how the EP was coming and his thoughts on religion and the state of music today.

The Chronicle: How did you get your name?

William David: I actually go through names kind of frequently. My name was I Am because my name is William. I was looking for a name that was similar but more appealing. Who Jah Say is kind of the same as I Am because I see the name William as the will of God. I Am being God, Will being the instrument, Who Jah Say being the same thing.

The Chronicle: You seem pretty religious. How does that influence your music?

WD: One hundred percent. I feel like people flip the word religion with specific doctrine. Religion is not being Christian or a specific religion. You practice. You practice that all day, everyday. It’s your lifestyle, it’s your culture. As far as being religious, everything I do is from the same root. It’s got the same center. The way I talk is the same way as I eat, is the same as the way I dress, is the same way as I entertain myself or the same books I read.  My religion is everything I am, so I’m very religious, yes.

The Chronicle: How many tattoos do you have?

WD: I have [pauses and counts to himself] about 12.

The Chronicle: Is there any one of them you would like to get rid of?

WD: I have a girl’s name on my back, but I’m not romantic. I love love and I hold loyalty real big. It would be like throwing salt in someone’s eye to take their name off of me. So not really.

The Chronicle: What are your biggest influences?

WD: Bob Marley. Bob Marley is my father. Bob Marley basically raised me, I could say. When I think back as a young adult, Bob Marley was my teacher and raised me. Another influence would be, I don’t know, hip-hop for sure … Anybody really speaking about real, conscious thoughts [and] human awareness.

The  Chronicle: What music do you have out right now?

WD: I’m working on an EP … What I’m actually going to do is release a sampler package because I feel music has to be different. It’s a different generation and people have shorter attention spans, so I’m not going to dump a whole CD on somebody. I’m going to give them things that are visually rich or educational and things like that. When I release my music, I release videos and a lot of things like that. I put together a video last week and I just posted it on my site. I have a lot of old material I haven’t released. EPs, videos, mix tapes and shows.

The Chronicle: Do you feel like music is over-produced now?

WD: Absolutely. I feel like music, as a whole, is over-produced because it doesn’t have any substance to it. I don’t understand why people put such big sound and so much energy into bullshit. It’s like I guess that’s the difference. We are at a time in the industry where everyone has studios. I don’t relate to this personally because I’m not old enough to, but I speak to some of my elders that [say] 20 or 30 years ago everybody didn’t have a Macintosh or laptop with a little studio. That’s why there are so many MCs. That’s why there are so many producers. That’s why there are so many people that think they have skills now. Everybody has the tools to do it, but back in the day that had to be what you did every day.

To listen to WhoJahSay’s music, go to MySpace.com/WhoJahSay.