Alberto D'Ascola (; born 4 July 1977), better known by his stage name Alborosie, is an Italian

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

artist. He is sometimes called the "Italian Reggae Ambassador".

Music career

Early life (2001–2005)

Born Alberto d’Ascola and raised in Marsala,

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Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, but now residing in Kingston, Jamaica, he is a multi-instrumentalist, being proficient in guitar, bass, drums and keyboard. His musical career began in the Italian reggae band , from Bergamo city, when he was 15 years old in 1993, in which he was known as Stena. In 2001, Alborosie decided to try a solo career. He moved to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

to be close to reggae music's roots and Rastafari culture. There, he started working as a sound engineer and producer. He has also worked with artists like Gentleman and

Ky-Mani Marley Ky-Mani Marley (born 26 February 1976) is a Jamaican singer and musician. His name is of East African origin, and means "Adventurous Traveler". He is the only child of Bob Marley with Anita Belnavis, a Jamaican table tennis champion. In 2001 ...

. His first solo album was called ''Soul Pirate''. In the summer of 2009, he released his second album which was called ''Escape from Babylon''. In August 2008, Alborosie played at the

Uppsala Reggae Festival Uppsala Reggae Festival is the largest reggae festival in Scandinavia. It has been active since 2001, with a number of notable artists performing. It was first held in 2001, but the name was used as early as 1995. Uppsala Reggae Festival attract ...

. The name "Alborosie" comes from a name he was given in the early years after moving to Jamaica. "Borosie was what they used to call me. Let me put it like this. My early experience in Jamaica was...not nice. Borosie was a name they used to call me and it has a negative meaning. So I said, "I'm gonna use this name and mash up the place, turn a negative into a positive thing!". Basically my name is Albert so I add 'Al', Al-borosie. But I'm not gonna tell you what borosie mean!"

''Soul Pirate'' & ''Escape From Babylon '' (2006–2009)

In 2006, Alborosie released his debut album, ''Soul Pirate'', which included hit singles: "Rastafari Anthem", "Kingston Town", and "Call Up Jah" on his own record label, Forward Recordings. Alborosie live6

He released his second album, ''Escape From Babylon'' in 2009 on

Greensleeves Records Greensleeves Records & Publishing, shortened to ''Greensleeves Records'', is a record label specializing in dancehall and reggae music. The company was founded by Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick. Based in Britain, Greensleeves Records sta ...

. Through the years he has given concerts all round the world, including most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and Jamaica. He also released a compilation, ''Escape from Babylon to the Kingdom of Zion'' on Greensleeves Records in 2010.

''Dub Clash'', ''2 Times Revolution'', & ''Sound The System'' (2010–2013)

After releasing his first Dub music album, ''Dub Clash'' in 2010 and his third album, ''2 Times Revolution'', Alborosie became the first white artist to win the M.O.B.O. (Music of Black Origin) Awards in the Best Reggae Act category for 2011.Alborosie debuts on Billboard
, '' Jamaica Observer'', 4 July 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014 Alborosie released his fourth album, ''Sound The System'' on Greensleeves Records in 2013. He followed it up with a dub music version with, ''Dub the System'' in 2013 on Greensleeves Records. He released ''Sound the System Showcase'' in 2014, a compilation album.

''Collaborations & Re-masters'' (2014–2015)

Alborosie released a dub album he collaborated with

King Jammy Lloyd James (born 26 October 1947),Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub ma ...

called, ''Dub of Thrones – With King Jammy'' in 2013 on VP Records. In 2014, Greensleeves Records released, ''Specialist Presents Alborosie & Friends'', a collection of collaborations with other reggae artists. The album entered the '' Billboard'' Top Reggae Albums chart at #7. Alborosie collaborated with

on another dub album, ''Reality of Dub'', which was released in early 2015. In 2015, his classic debut album ''Soul Pirate'', which was released by Evolution Music Group, was re-mastered and released in Deluxe Remastered Edition with 4 never-before-released bonus tracks: "Call Up Jah", "Slambam", "Streets", and "Jamaica".

''Freedom & Fyah'' & ''The Rockers'' (2016)

In May 2016, Alborosie's fifth album ''Freedom & Fyah'' was released on VP records. In the end of 2016, Evolution Music Group released his classic album ''Soul Pirate'' in an acoustic version. The album was released on CD and CD+DVD formats. He also released his sixth studio album, ''The Rockers'' on August 24, 2016. He also released another dub album, ''Freedom in Dub'' on VP Records in 2017.

Collaborations with The Wailers and Roots Radics (2016–2019)

His 2018 seventh studio album, ''Unbreakable: Alborosie Meets The Wailers United'' peaked at #6 on the '' Billboard'' Reggae Albums chart. Alborosie collaborated with

Roots Radics The Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. They were joined by many musicians, including guitarist Noel "Sowell" Bailey, Dwight Pinkn ...

on the 2019 album ''Alborosie Meets the Roots Radics: Dub for the Radicals''.

''In The Culture'' (2021)

On June 4, 2021, Alborosie released his eighth studio album, titled ''In The Culture''. It features fourteen tracks that were written, produced, and performed in the during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

using vintage analogue gear, dub sirens, reel-to-reel tape, and live instrumentation by Alborosie and the

band. Special guest performers Alborosie collaborated with were

Collie Buddz Colin Patrick Harper (born August 21, 1981), better known by his stage name Collie Buddz, is a Bermudian reggae artist best known for his single "Come Around". Career Although Harper was born in New Dadyal Hospital, AJK. He studied audio enginee ...

, Jo Mersa Marley, Quino of Big Mountain, and

The Wailing Souls The Wailing Souls (originally The Renegades) are a Jamaican reggae vocal group whose origins date back to the 1960s. The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years with Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald the only c ...

, which Alborosie produced the duo's latest album ''Back-A-Yard''. In December 2021, Alborosie was nominated for the fans-choice "2021 Album of the Year" award by '' Surf Roots TV & Radio'' for their album ''For The Culture''. Voting was determined by

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, Instagram and

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users. This was the band's first time being nominated with the reggae rock streaming TV channel on

Amazon Fire TV Amazon Fire TV (stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connected ...

, Apple TV, and

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduced ...

Personal life

Alberto D'Ascola was born on 4 July 1977 in Marsala, Sicily, Italy. His father is a retired policeman and his mother was a housewife. D'Ascola developed an interest in

music and joined the band Reggae National Tickets in 1992 (at the age of 15.) He is a dual citizen of both Italy and Jamaica.

Discography

Solo studio albums

Dub albums

Re-edition albums

With Reggae National Tickets

*''Squali'' (1996) *''Un affare difficile'' (1997) *''Lascia un po' di te'' (1998) *''La Isla'' (1999) *''Roof Club'' (2000)

Produced by Alborosie

*''Alborosie presents His Majesty Riddim'' (2016), VP

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Facebook pageBBC Music profileDiscography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alborosie Living people 1977 births People from Marsala Jamaican reggae musicians Italian emigrants to Jamaica Jamaican Rastafarians Italian Rastafarians Converts to the Rastafari movement Jamaican people of Italian descent Jamaican people of European descent Italian people of Albanian descent 21st-century Italian male singers VP Records artists Greensleeves Records artists