Conscious reggae artiste Jesse Royal has teamed up with Ghanaian Afrobeat and dancehall star Stonebwoy for the single Dirty Money , which was released last Friday.
The African-influenced rhythm track is used to carry the lyrics which condemn political greed: “If education is key, why you can’t make it free for we? Or is it because you profit from poverty? When you look at me, do you see a man or do you see another vote for your party? Not even holy water can clean your dirty money.”
The track is the latest single and fourth release from Jesse Royal’s upcoming sophomore album, Royal, due to come out June 11 via Easy Star Records.
Dirty Money features a cross-cultural beat, co-produced by Grammy-award-winning producer Sean Alaric — responsible for Koffee’s Throne and Teyana Taylor’s Bad — and Jesse Royal himself, and captures the sounds of Jamaica and Africa.
According to Jesse Royal, the album title describes the quality of music he’s making, but also offers a succinct definition of Jamaica’s signature beat.
“Reggae is a different tone, a different feeling, a different mood; it speaks to you in different ways — it is definitely royal music,” reasoned the artiste.
Jesse Royal said he has adopted a new approach for creating the songs on Royal, collaborating with like-minded colleagues and just letting the creativity flow. The result, he said, is 11 tracks that incorporate live instrumentation and programmed riffs, experimental and traditional sounds, all of which contribute to his body of work to date.
He described the messages delivered throughout Royal as “militant, yet divinely inspired, profoundly moving and politically provocative. While the album’s multi-textured sonics are rooted in reggae, [it] also incorporate a 21st century burnished palette of influences”.
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