Jesse David Royal (born 29 April 1989) is a Jamaican

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 ...

musician.

Early life

Jesse Royal (Jesse David Leroi Grey) was born in St James Parish,

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 a family of Maroon ancestry and Rasta faith. The Royal family relocated to Kingston in 1997 where his father took a job with a telecommunications firm. While in school Royal became friends with Daniel Bambata Marley, son of reggae artist

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 20 ...

Music career

Early life (2010–2016)

Royal began his career being mentored by the late Fatis Burrell (the father of one of Royal's classmates), who produced Jesse's first two releases, ''Singing the Blues'' and ''Long Days and Short Nights'' in 2010. Royal toured extensively in Jamaica, Europe and the United States, before releasing his first major work, ''Modern Day Judas'', a single off of his mixtape, which was a runaway success. In 2015, ''

Vogue Magazine ''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogu ...

'' listed Royal as part of a greater on-going "Reggae Revival" movement (along with other reggae artists

Chronixx Jamar Rolando McNaughton (born 10 October 1992), popularly known as Chronixx, is a Jamaican reggae artist. His stage name replaced the name "Little Chronicle" which he was given because of his father, the singer "Chronicle".Jackson, Kevin (2014) ...

Jah9 Janine Elizabeth Cunningham (born 23 May 1983), better known as Jah9, is a Jamaican singer and also a yoga teacher. Biography Jah9 was born in Montego Bay in Saint James, Jamaica. Her father was a Baptist minister and her mother was a teach ...

and

Protoje Oje Ken Ollivierre (born 14 June 1981), popularly known as Protoje, is a contemporary reggae singer and songwriter from Jamaica. His mother is Jamaican singer Lorna Bennett, best known for her 1972 rendition of "Breakfast in Bed".Johnson, Rich ...

) happening in Jamaica and the rest of the world, revitalizing the genre of

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the honoring of God, called Jah ...

. In 2016, Royal was featured on the

Raging Fyah Raging Fyah is five-piece reggae band from Kingston, Jamaica, formed in 2006. They released their first album in 2011, and in 2016 signed to VP Records, with third album ''Everlasting'' earning them a Grammy nomination. Career Delroy "Pele" Hamil ...

album, ''Everlasting'' in a song titled "Humble".

''Lilly of da Valley'' (2017)

After seven years of the release of his first single, Royal recorded his debut album, ''Lily of da Valley'', released by

Easy Star Records Easy Star Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996. Based in New York City, the label primarily produces and releases albums in the genres of reggae and dub. The label has had multiple albums chart at No. 1 on the '' Bil ...

on October 6, 2017. The album topped the '' Billboard'' Reggae Albums chart. The album title draws reference back to an old church hymn written in the late 1800s. Royal explains that the song, which he learned from his grandmother's time in

church choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, has been a "source of comfort and reflection for the artist through hard times and serves as a personal reminder that Christ came as an example, not as a deity", encouraging a deeper overstanding of the concept of Christ beyond just the idolized 'picture on the wall' to which He so often gets reduced". Recordings for ''Lily of Da Valley'' took place in many studios like Applehead Studio in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 20 ...

, the legendary

Tuff Gong Tuff Gong is the brand name associated with a number of businesses started by Bob Marley and Rita Marley#Children, the Marley family. 'Tuff Gong' comes from Marley's nickname, which was in turn an echo of that given to founder of the Rastafari ...

and Big Yard Studios in Kingston, Jamaica. It was mainly produced by Llamar "Riff Raff" Brown. The album features recent singles "Always Be Around" and Jo Mersa Marley on the single "Generation", as well as two previously released singles; the Winta James-produced debut song "Modern Day Judas" on the ''Rootsman Riddim'' and the Marijuana anthem "Finally".

''Royal'' (2021)

On June 11, 2021, Jesse Royal released his second studio album titled ''

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

'' on

. The LP features collaborations with top reggae artists:

Vybz Kartel Adidja Azim Palmer (born 7 January 1976), better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall recording artist, composer, record producer, and entrepreneur. Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as "Worl' Boss". As summarize ...

Kumar A coin, around 200 BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya">Yaudheyas.html" ;"title="BCE, of the Yaudheyas">BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya Kumar (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: wikt:कुमा ...

, Ghanaian afrobeats artist

Stonebwoy Livingstone Etse Satekla (born 5 March 1988), better known by his stage name Stonebwoy, is a Ghanaian Afropop, dancehall and reggae musician. He is the CEO of Burniton Music Group. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 2015 B ...

, Jamaica's rising talents Samory I, and Runkus. Jesse Royal was nominated for his first

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 pr ...

for his album ''Royal''. The album was produced by Grammy-winning reggae producer Sean Alaric who produced most of the album, along with Royal himself, Natural High, Dretegs, Iotosh, Yared " Boomdraw" Lee, Romario "Runkus" Bennett, and Wayne "Unga Barunga" Thompson. In December 2021, Jesse Royal was nominated for the fans-choice "2021 Album of the Year" award by '' Surf Roots TV & Radio'' for his album ''Royal''. Voting was determined by

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

, Instagram and

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users. This was his 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

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Discography

Mixtapes

* ''Misheni'' '' – DJ Tall Up'' (2012), Jamaica * ''In Comes the Small Axe'' – ''DJ Tall Up'' (2013), Jamaica * ''Major Lazer's Walshy Fire Presents: Royally Speaking Mixtape'' (2014), Jamaica

EPs

* ''Hope & Love'' (2015), Gachapan Records, Japan

Albums

* ''Lily of da Valley'' (2017),

Easy Star Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective founded in 1997 by Michael Goldwasser, Eric Smith, Lem Oppenheimer and Remy Gerstein of New York City-based Easy Star Records. The band is known for its reinterpretations of classic albums in reggae styl ...

* ''

'' (2021),

Singles

Featured In

* Sean Paul – "Guns of Navarone" (feat. Jesse Royal,

Mutabaruka Allan Hope (born 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Steppin' Razor''. His ...

) (2021)

References

External links

Official Jesse Royal Website

Official Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Jesse Living people People from Saint James Parish, Jamaica People of Jamaican Maroon descent 1989 births Jamaican reggae singers Jamaican singer-songwriters 21st-century Jamaican male singers Jamaican Rastafarians Easy Star Records artists