Five Questions with Mykal Rose
Published:Friday | October 6, 2023 | 12:09 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Mykal Rose, ‘the Grammy kid from Black Uhuru’, is continuing his legacy of powerful, message-filled music, with the release of his latest album, I Give You Love, on Friday, September 15. Often described as “one of Jamaica’s most distinguished singers”, the reggae singer and songwriter from Waterhouse in Kingston first began performing at talent contests and on the Jamaican hotel circuit as a teenager, and recorded his first single, Woman a Gineal fe True, at age 15 with producer Newton Simmons.
His childhood friend, Sly Dunbar, who would later gain fame as one half of the Riddim Twins Sly and Robbie, introduced him to producer Niney the Observer, with whom he recorded several singles in 1972. Sly was again instrumental in the next chapter of Rose’s life when, in 1977, he introduced him to Derrick ‘Duckie’ Simpson, the leader of reggae group Black Uhuru.
According to Rose’s bio, Black Uhuru was undergoing a significant line-up change at that time, and he became the group’s lead singer and primary songwriter. Mykal Rose led Black Uhuru through seven studio albums, starting with Showcase in 1979 and including the critically acclaimed Red, in 1981, and the Grammy Award-winning Anthem, in 1983. That album won the award for Best Reggae Album in 1985, the first year of that award’s existence.
In the 1995–2004 period, Heartbeat Records released a total of nine albums, and Rose regularly reached the singles charts in Jamaica and Europe. He rejoined Black Uhuru in 2004 for a multi-year tour under the name Black Uhuru featuring Michael Rose. During this period, he continued to record and perform as a solo artiste. In 2019, he released his first album in 11 years, the ska project Ska Ska Ska. His 2022 single Glory to Jah attracted media attention in Jamaica.
His birth name in Michael Rose, and this name appears on most but not all of his solo albums. Starting in 1991, he changed the spelling to Mykal Rose, claiming that this is the Ethiopian version of the name.
This week, Five Questions With linked Grammy Rose for a quick chat.
1. Why a love album from Mykal Rose at this specific time?
First of all, we have to give thanks for life. The world a change. COVID come in and flip a different page in the book. Right now, is like we lacking in love. Nowadays, yuh hardly find love between one and ones … too much hatred. No one nah tek time fi pray fi one another any more, and a nuh so we know it. That’s why the Rastaman always seh ‘One Love’ … so I seh I Give You Love.
2. How long has ‘I Give You Love’ been in the making?
We started this album two years ago. Fyah, a dread from Pittsburgh, introduced me to Donsome [producer] and the energy was great. Donsome reminds me of a young Coxsone [Dodd, Studio One]. Him build the beat and do everything … like a one-man army. When me listen to how my music come across, it reminds me of when Sly [Dunbar] dem a work.
3. Over the years, you have worked with reggae’s best producers, including Niney the Observer. What was that like?
Yuh know … a Niney kinda discover me. There was a club on Maxfield Ave named Bohemia. I won a talent contest there one night and afterwards mi see a big man come up to me and tell me to meet him at him studio at Orange Street the following day. It was Niney. I went to the studio and did a song … and I was backed by Soul Syndicate band. Niney do a lot of good in the business that cannot be erased.
4. You are enjoying two albums being released within months of each other. That is not the norm. How did that happen?
(Laughs) I Give You Love was released in September and Judge Not was released in June … three months apart. But Judge Not was recorded more than a decade ago by Stingray Records, a producer out of England. Is just so these things go sometimes.
5. Any plans to tour ‘I Give You Love’, and have you been on the road post-COVID?
We can call it that 2023 is finished already, so, for next year, definitely. This year, I toured the West Coast of the United States. I also did the Cali Roots Festival and a couple more, as well as making some appearances on stage with Rebelution.