![\"\"](\"https:\/\/loopnewslive.blob.core.windows.net\/liveimage\/sites\/default\/files\/795156fb730d75938ea0ad476b255b60royal_album_art_easy-resize.com_.jpg\" "\\"Royal")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRoyal album cover<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is also proud of the features on the album, stating that this is the most collaborative project he has done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The album features vocal collaborations with Vybz Kartel, Protoje, rising stars Kumar, Samory I, Runkus and Ghanian singer Stonebwoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said while his first album, the Billboard-charting Lily of Da Valley, featured some collabs especially from a musical standpoint, he got a lot of beef from his friends for not featuring them so he decided with this album to feature those who inspire him musically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s people who I respect and I listen to like Samori, I think he is one of the greatest voices outta Jamaica. When he sings, it comes in like a trumpet. So I had to have somebody like Samori and we were very deliberate with the message and the song and the beat,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked if he has a favourite collab on the album, Royal identified \u201cDirty Money\u201d featuring Stonebwoy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is just a different tempo, a different movement, a very unexpected sound,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first single off the album was \u201cRich Forever\u201d featuring Kartel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesse said that collab was possible through an aligning of the stars, noting that Kartel is someone he has admired for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKartel will go down in history as one of, if not the greatest, dancehall artistes to ever live,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his verse on \u201cRich Forever\u201d, Kartel sings: \u201cRich Forever, family mi treasure in a system that breeds depression, who will ease the tension, everyman for themself, cheese intention greens that evil intention, matter how e teach dem need detention.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stating that Kartel is a Godly being, Jesse said: \u201cThere is nobody who could have delivered that message like him. Him know really the richness now, don\u2019t you get it twisted. He have to talk to the youth in a way cause they look pon rasta like we holier than thou, it take one of their own to talk to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesse Royal. Photo by Samo<\/p>\n\n\n\n A man of many sounds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like so many of his contemporaries, Royal taps into many genres for this album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The messages possess the fervour of reggae and Rastafari at its core while mixing in elements of dancehall, dub, afrobeats, jazz and hip-hop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal said he is a vehicle for the message which can manifest itself in any form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReggae is the expression and that can be expressed in any way. Let\u2019s get that out of the way,\u201d he said, addressing the debate over the changing sound of Jamaican music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing Jamaican now comes with a whole heap of things, the good, the bad, the ugly. Jamaica being so small too, is like the richest man still know a poor man, a poor man still know a rich man, the pastor still know a murderer, the murderer mother is still a Christian, it is a whole chain. Me a show you the reality we live with and then the expression of that comes out in many different ways but we must remember we are the same people who give you the vibes. We never stop at ska, we never stop at rock steady,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said music is always evolving and the likes of artists such as Bob Marley always brought new sounds to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo by Samo<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marley Influence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesse spent his formative years growing up in the hills of Maroon Town and the District of Orange in St. James before moving in the late 90s with his mother and brother to join his father in Kingston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In school, at the age of eight, he developed a close friendship with Daniel \u2018Bambaata\u2019 Marley, Ziggy Marley\u2019s first son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result of that friendship, Jesse was able to sit in Ziggy and the Melody Makers\u2019 rehearsals and on studio sessions which inspired his own musical journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUncle Ziggy and Uncle Steve (Stephen Marley) them a definitely some of the biggest inspirations in terms of direction with music, how they approach the music, the reverence they give to the stage, the honour we give to the work we were bestowed, it is more than yo, we want to be famous, with them it\u2019s a mission, we do this for a reason. Bob set the thing to the highest degree so there is no shaking and them thing is so important to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Stephen, he said, who helped him to make up his mind about pursuing music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe literally look me in the eye and said a whole heap of people going to be vex, your parents going to be confused, but God give you a talent, he give you a blessing and what you need to do is be you\u2026just trust your creator,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though he is an avid ambassador of dancehall and reggae, soca is another genre of music that Jesse has recently become a fan of thanks to his girlfriend Kandi King, known as the Carnival Queen of Jamaica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI going to whisper, she convert me likkle,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMe start listen the music a lil deeper, love soca, the man them upful, the man them joyful\u2026 Bunji is my brother in a real life, so is a whole overstanding of respecting other\u2019s talents and other\u2019s craft and other\u2019s genres.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal will be released on June 11. To celebrate the launch of the new album, Jesse Royal will perform live in Wynwoodon Saturday, June 12 in Miami, FL.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On his sophomore album, Jesse Royal is giving us a true look at himself. The reggae singer says it is the most vulnerable he has been in music. That is why the album is called Royal, a play on his name, yes, but a declaration that it is an insight into his emotions and thoughts. \u201cIt is an offering where…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/loopnewslive.blob.core.windows.net\/liveimage\/sites\/default\/files\/38a2f562adb6ace388904d893ae8f37cjesse_royal_on_car_easy-resize.com_.jpg\" "\\"Jesse")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/loopnewslive.blob.core.windows.net\/liveimage\/sites\/default\/files\/fdfd4e152876e720a8be6d41d7442bf3jesse_royal_by_samo_easy-resize.com_.jpg\" "\\"Photo")
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