Justin Wellington sometimes also known by the initials JW (born January 11, 1978) is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

n singer presenting a blend of pop,

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 ...

, R&B,

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

and island music. He is most famous for his version of "

Iko Iko "Iko Iko" () is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two tribes of Mardi Gras Indians and the traditional confrontation. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written and released in 1953 as a sin ...

" as " Iko Iko (My Bestie)" He has released three studio albums.

Career

Wellington was born to Australia-born parents who had immigrated to Papua New Guinea. He attended schools in Texas, USA and in Canada. He then began working as an R&B and reggae pop singer and has released several singles since 2002. Hits include "I Wanna Give You Some Lovin'", "Better Off", "One Night With You", "Much Love", "Fire", "In Love with U", "Runaway", "Tell Me", "Reminiscing", "Rain of Morobe" and others. He has worked with many Papua New Guinea artists such as AK-47, Tattz from NakaBlood, Jokema and

O-Shen Jason Hershey (born 1978 in Spokane, Washington), better known as O-Shen, is a reggae musician, raised in Papua New Guinea. O-Shen resides in Hawai'i but still visits Papua New Guinea. He raps and sings most of his songs in Tok Pisin. Biograph ...

, Robbie T, Mekere Crew, Steven M, Gravity, DJ Travy etc. His international breakthrough came with a cover of "Iko Iko", originally recorded by

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, Jr. (October 12, 1934 – September 15, 2012) was an American R&B musician based in New Orleans. He was the author of "Jock-A-Mo" (1954), which was later rerecorded as "Iko Iko" by the Dixie Cups, and became a ...

in 1953 and popularised by

The Dixie Cups The Dixie Cups (formerly known as The Meltones) are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for a string of hits including their 1964 million-selling record "Chapel of Love", " People Say", and "Iko Iko". Career ...

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

Captain Jack Captain Jack may refer to: People * Calico Jack (1683–1720), a pirate in the 18th century * Captain Jack (Hawaiian) (died 1831), Naihekukui, commander of Kamehameha's fleet and father of Kalama * Captain Jack (fl. 1830s on), Kaurna man in c ...

amongst others. Justin Wellington's adapted version of the song as "Iko Iko (My Bestie)", which he actually released featuring

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

group Small Jam in 2017. It received worldwide attention as part of the social platform

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

challenge. As a result, the cover was released by

Sony Music UK Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

on June 3, 2019, and started to gain international popularity in 2021. His version makes various changes to the lyrics of the verses, and has its own original sections, but keeps the chorus the same. It was later added alongside the TikTok dance into the video game ''

Fortnite Battle Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially re ...

''. He was nominated for "International Revelation of the Year" during the 2021

NRJ Music Awards An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...

Discography

Albums

*2005: ''Much Love'' (Mangrove Productions) *2008: ''JW'' (Mangrove Productions) *2010: ''Reign of Morobe'' (Mangrove Productions)

Singles

Other songs

*2005: "I Wanna Give You Some Lovin'" *2005: "Much Love" *2008: "Madina" *2009: "In Love With U" *2011: "Run Away" *2011: "Island Girl" *2011: "Fire" *2011: "Your Love" (feat. Sharzy) *2011: "Rain of Morobe" (feat.

) *2011: "Island Sound" (feat. K & Nela Music & D-Witty) *2012: "Christmas Is Finally Here" (feat. LiveBoys) *2013: "Need You" (feat. Pou Jackson) *2014: "Reminiscin" (feat. Gravity and Funky) *2015: "Long Way Back (To Your Heart)" (feat. Jokema) *2017: " Iko Iko (My Bestie)" (feat. Small Jam) *2017: "Island Moon" (feat. Jahboy) *2018: "My Girl" (feat. Leebonz & K-Dawg) *2020: "Sweet Mama" (feat. Papa Cidy) *2020: "She Don't Know" (feat. Dezine) *2020: "Show Me How" *2021: "Iko Iko (Ryan Freeston Remix)"

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellington, Justin 1978 births Living people Papua New Guinean musicians Papua New Guinean people of Australian descent