Jamaican Canadian
Jamaican Canadians are Canadian citizens of Jamaican descent or Jamaican-born permanent residents of Canada. The population, according to Canada's 2016 Census, is 309,485. Jamaican Canadians comprise about 30% of the entire Black Canadian popul ...
singer, musician, and actor.
Early life
Clennon was born in
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...
, where he began taking piano lessons and writing songs in his youth. At the age of 15, he was relocated to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
with his family, before moving to
Toronto, Canada
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...
to pursue his music career when he turned 21.
Career
Clennon began to release music on
Soundcloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
in the early 2010s, but upon signing a record deal with
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
-based record label Moonshine, he deleted all of his music off the internet to "start from scratch". In an interview with ''
The Gleaner
''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...
'', Clennon said that he began to take his music career seriously in 2013.
Clennon's first EP, ''When the Smoke Clears'', which consists of four songs, was released on August 19, 2016.
His first official single was "Blood", which attracted acclaim from international music blogs. A music video was released on January 18, 2017. His second single, "Don't Die", was released later that year and was called "powerful" by ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' writer Katie Kelly. Another single, "Find You", was released with an accompanying music video on February 27, 2017, through ''
Paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
''.
Around this time, Clennon left Moonshine and signed with another Canadian record label,
Bonsound
Bonsound is a music company founded in 2004 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bonsound is an artist management company, a record label, a booking agency, a concert promoter and a promotion & publicity agency.
Bonsound also operate two subsidia ...
. He subsequently released his second EP, ''Passion'', produced by
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
-winning duo Rainer + Grimm, in 2019.
His third EP, ''Foreign'', was released in 2021 and featured the singles "Part of Your World", "Not Perfect", and "Don't Start a Fire".
Outside of music, Clennon has starred in Canadian director
M. H. Murray
Mathew Hubert Murray (born June 4, 1993), credited professionally as M. H. Murray, is a Canadian writer and filmmaker. He first attracted attention for his work on ''Teenagers'' (2014–2017), which won several accolades.
Early life
Murray w ...
Pride Month
LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and ha ...
, Clennon released a single, "Kingston", with an accompanying music video that featured a romantic storyline between Clennon and male model Jean-Julien Hazoumi. The music video, filmed in Kingston, became the first music video shot in Jamaica to feature an on-screen romance between two men. A live performance of "Kingston" was also released online by the
Recording Academy
The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...
's "Global Spin" series.
Musical style
Clennon's music has been described as both pop and R&B, with
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
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...