Get to Know … Tarrus Riley

SONGWRITER’S PROFILE

TARRUS RILEY is known for a number of hit singles such as ‘Stay With You’, ‘Beware’, ‘She’s Royal’, and ‘Lion Paw’ to name a few. His journey into music was inevitable as he is the son of reggae stalwart Jimmy Riley. Riley was introduced to conscious music from an early age and grew an appreciation for conscious lyrics. The songwriter has written thought-provoking music about black consciousness and experiences. Tarrus along with friends created a movement called BLAKSOIL – ‘Bredren Living According King Selassie-I Over standing & Iritical Livity’ which he used to target the consciousness of women and children. His interest in educating the youths about Black History lead to him launching the ‘Tarrus Riley Freedom Writers Competition’ which ran on Jamaica’s Irie FM radio station. Tarrus Riley has received several awards for Best Singer, Male Vocalist, Cultural Artiste, Song of the Year, and Best Song. The Youth View Awards, The Star People’s Choice Awards; EME Awards, CVM TV’s 15th Anniversary Awards and the Reggae Academy Awards have all honoured the ‘She’s Royal’ singer/songwriter for his creativity and unique ability to deliver art through his music. Along with sharing his talent worldwide, Tarrus Riley has been an advocate for Reggae music that earns billions in US dollars annually but sadly, less than one percent of that profit finds its way to his country, Jamaica. Riley recognized that much needs to be done in order to repatriate the business of Reggae and has worked alongside JACAP in campaigning for copyright compliance. He also believes that local stakeholders need to invest more in the music in order to gain more benefits and essentially assist in building Jamaica’s economy. Tarrus Riley received ‘Top Author (International) Award’ from JACAP as a part of their 21st anniversary celebration in August 2019.