Royal family

Golden-voiced reggae star Tarrus Riley
carries on his father Jimmy’s legacy

VOCAL HERO: Tarrus Riley

By ERIN MACLEOD

Tarrus Riley, son of singer Jimmy Riley, is carrying on the family tradition, but with a voice that’s all his own. Busting out with the huge hit “She’s Royal,” Riley is known for his pure tone and conscious lyrics. Parables, his debut album, brought Riley’s incredible voice together with producer (and legendary sax player) Dean Fraser. The result sounds like it just might be the future of reggae. The Mirror spoke to Riley about the state of Jamaican music, the influences that fuel his tunes and the sound of his voice.

Mirror: What is the influence of Rastafari on your music?

Tarrus Riley: There is an influence because of the teachings of Haile Selassie I and Marcus Garvey—Afrocentric vibes every time. We want to teach the youths so they can strive to be the best they can be. We also want things to be fresh for the youths and exciting and attractive, so they will learn about culture. We want to teach them what they might not learn in school or church, you know what I mean?

M: A lot of the youth in Jamaica today are listening to dancehall. Even though you’re a singer, are you into dancehall?

TR: I wanted to take music on a long-term vibe. I think that dancehall is the music of the present, but it is the music of my generation. I was into artists like Shabba [Ranks] and Buju [Banton], and after a while my love for the music increased—I just wanted to pick up an instrument and go full force into the music, get deeper into it.

M: Would you say that there’s an increasing amount of crossover between different types of reggae?

TR: We are family—we are all together, the singers and the deejays. I don’t see any competition between the two. Deejay is just another form of music. It’s all good. I have a lot of combination tunes. It’s good for the music.

M: Your voice is very unique. What led you to singing as opposed to getting into dancehall?

TR: Since I wanted to do this for the long term, I had no doubt that I wanted to sing. I wasn’t thinking about being the artist of the month. I was thinking about making a career out of music. To do that, you have to think about what you are doing. I’m not into trends—I’m trying to make my own vibe.

M: It makes sense that you’d get into music, as you come from a musical family.

TR: My father is a singer, and my mother is a nurse, but she’s also a bathroom singer. She sings in the bathroom and around the house. I was also always around studios and rehearsal spaces. I just kept growing and learning from all sorts of great musicians.

M: And your biggest hit, “She’s Royal,” shows that you seem to gain inspiration from women. How important is it to big up the women?

TR: There are more and more female artists these days. And women, they are the mothers of creation—there is Mother Earth and Father Time. This is not something that is superficial or funny. Women have to be represented. I have to big them up; I have the highest amount of respect for women.

With Duane Stephenson,
Dean Fraser, Inword,
Mikey Dangerous
and more at Medley,
Friday Aug. 22, 9 p.m., $25-50