Papa Rosko

A singer, songwriter, composer, & producer, Papa Rosko's self-titled debut album has had 5 songs play on 139 radio stations in 23 countries and has had over 500,000 views of associated videos. This album reached #3 on Billboard's US Reggae Album chart and hit #3 on iTunes and Amazon reggae sales. The album features a pair of country-reggae hybrid covers that nod to the years he spent honing his craft in Nashville. Papa Rosko trades verses with the man who gave reggae music it's name the legendary Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals on the album’s island-friendly version of Johnny Cash’s country classic “Folsom Prison Blues”. Papa Rosko then teams up with dancehall star Gyptian for an upbeat makeover of “When You Say Nothing At All,” a multi-genre hit across three decades by three different artists. The album also finds Papa Rosko saluting the reggae fusion band who came before him with a cover of Third World’s “You’re Not the Only One,” featuring guest vocals from the band’s lead singer, AJ Brown.

Papa Rosko shows the full range of his abilities on the album’s original tracks. “NooZies”, filled with anthemic electric guitar, rapped verses, and blasts of hot brass, which finds him railing against the profit-driven news media industrial complex which sensationalizes everything for the sake of higher ratings, while the Latin-flavored “Tranquilo” unfolds like the chilled-out soundtrack to a cool siesta. “1984” bounces between epic rock & roll and reggae, with topical lyrics inspired by George Orwell’s dystopian novel of the same name. “Chemistry is Everything” doubles down on Papa Rosko’s knack for crafting a sunny pop melody. Featuring dynamic performances from a band of Jamaican and Latin instrumentalists who have performed with Sean Paul, Jennifer Lopez, Yellowman, Jon Secada, Freddie McGregor, John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, Marcia Griffiths and more, the self-titled Papa Rosko album is an introduction to an artist who honors the roots reggae tradition not by attempting to replicate it precisely, but by fusing it with other genres in a truly unique way.

Rooted in a diverse mix of reggae with rock, Latin, dub, and pop, Papa Rosko’s music blurs the lines between genre and geography. It’s a sound filled with tropical grooves and larger-than-life hooks, created by a singer/songwriter whose background is as multicultural as the songs that fill his self-titled debut album.