Spotlight on Jesse Royal

Today, we salute #JesseRoyal! 🙌🏾

Jesse Royal was born in St James Parish, Jamaica to a family that practiced the Rasta faith. 

One of Jesse's most significant connections to Reggae came when the Royal family relocated to Kingston in 1997. It was in Kingston that Jesse became friends with Daniel Bambaata Marley, son of reggae artist Ziggy Marley.

Royal began his career as the mentee of the late Fatis Burrell, who produced Jesse's first two releases; "Singing the Blues" and "Long Days and Short Nights" in 2010.

Royal went on to tour extensively throughout Jamaica, as well as Europe and the United States. On this run, he released his first major work, Modern Day Judas, which had been a single on his mixtape. 

In 2015, Vogue Magazine listed Royal as part of a greater on-going "Reggae Revival" revitalizing the genre of roots reggae.

In 2017, Royal recorded his debut album, Lily of da Valley, released by Easy Star Records on October 6, 2017. The album topped the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. 

Recordings for Lily of Da Valley took place in many studios, including Applehead Studio in Woodstock, New York, the legendary Tuff Gong and Big Yard Studios in Kingston, Jamaica. 

On June 11, 2021, Jesse Royal released his second studio album titled Royal on Easy Star Records. The album, mostly produced by Llmar "Riff Raff" Brown, was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. 

The LP features collaborations with top reggae artists including Vybz Kartel, Protoje, Kumar, Ghanaian afrobeats artist Stonebwoy, Jamaica's rising talents Samory I, and Runkus.