Five Questions with Jesse Royal

Jesse Royal is a Grammy-nominated reggae artiste currently dominating the local scene in Jamaica. Born Jesse Gray, the self-proclaimed ‘small axe’ hails from St James. In his early life, he spent his days in banana walks and pineapple fields toiling away as a farmer. Spending parts of his life in both Montego Bay and Kingston, Royal soon discovered his love of music. Since his entrance unto the reggae scene over a decade ago, he has amassed both a loyal following and brand partnerships with entities like communications giant, Digicel. Now, as he gears up to take the stage as one-third of the headliners at the upcoming Lost in Time Festival, alongside Protoje and Lila Iké and in anticipation of the release of his latest studio album, he caught up with The Gleaner for Five Questions With...

1. Your messaging has always been super positive, almost deliriously happy. How do you manage that?

So as Proto (Protoje) say ‘bwoy Royal is a youth weh high pon life’. I’m really somebody who’s high on life. I understand the ups and the downs but you know whenever mi down it’s just about figuring out how to get back up. I never try to stay in the idea of darkness or sorrow or bitterness. Mi try fi focus on di brighter side of life and I think that just helps me. Everything inah life is about perspective. Life is lovely and it’s good to be alive and me a go act like it.

2. You have a toddler. How has becoming a father shifted your perspective when it comes to not just music but overall?

It reminds you seh life goes on. Having kids kind of remind me seh ‘hey, they are gonna have their time too’. And whether you want to agree or not, there will be a 3042. Even though we exist in 2024 and it’s easy to think that this is the only time that we will exist. Kids make you see seh life bigger than me and you. Life and even Khalil Gibran said that children don’t really belong to us and it’s really just the universe yearning for itself. It’s the same reason why a fruit have a seed, because it wants to grow another tree.

3. Protoje is your ‘brother’. What is it about your creative synergy with him that fosters your collaborations?

It’s just pure vibes. He has a very clean heart and pure soul. In the early stages of my career, Protoje was definitely somebody who would give me advice, [and] would look out for me. And as we grow, because of who I am, I maintain certain loyalties and respect. The people who show you love when they don’t have to, remember those people, take care of those people. And even musically, me and Protoje in the studio is like clockwork. We have about five or six songs together. I don’t have as many collaborations with any other artistes.

4. You were at the inaugural staging of ‘Lost in Time’ last year, where a large group of artistes came on stage, creating a true stage show moment. What was your favourite part of that whole interaction?

My favourite part was just people getting the opportunity to just feel them vibes deh again. It’s not personal for me like ‘wah me did a do?’ or anything like that. It’s more like ‘yow, the people dem get fi witness this again’ because we need them fi fall back in love with reggae music in a the realest way.

5. Tell us about your upcoming album.

The album that’s coming up, I am super excited about it. I experimented with sound again. On my last album, that was nominated for the Grammy, that’s literally what I did. I said ‘yow, me a go experiment with sound, experiment with my voice and I tried different chords, different octaves and stretched my voice’. That in itself has opened my whole range up to different melodies. It’s a beautiful process for me and I really am excited and happy about sharing nuff a dem chune yah with the world.

shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com