Junior Kelly

Tall, dreadlocked Junior Kelly is a devout Rastafarian on a serious musical mission which is manifested through the quality of his contemplative lyrics, the diversity of his substantial subject matter and his inspirational delivery. Born in Kingston 13, Junior was raised in nearby Spanish town. Throughout his childhood, he was surrounded by music, his grandfather and father both played banjo, his mother sang in the Church and his oldest brother Jim was a popular Deejay[rapper] with the Kilamanjaro Sound. There was a sense of comfort and security within the family; Despite their poor economic status they were rich in other ways. “If it’s soup today, we’re happy, if it’s crackers tomorrow, we’re still happy,” relates Junior, “because we knew we had each other to lean on.”

The family was plummeted into depression with the murder of junior’s oldest brother Jim. A part time caterer, Jim was the family’s principal breadwinner and a role model for Junior ; Jim regularly practiced his lyrical toasts in the family living room, greatly influencing the career path of his youngest brother.

After Jim’s death, to help support his family Junior followed soundsystems all over the island just for the opportunity to demonstrate his vocal and lyrical talents. He also began auditioning for several of the Producers comprising Kingston’s crowded music circuit, attempting to record songs. Adhering to his principled Rastafarian lifestyle, he refused to compromise his lyrical content by writing lewd lyrics or songs disrespecting women.

Junior’s career pace accelerated in late 1995 with appearances at major Jamaican stage shows including Reggae Sunsplash and Sting as well as shows in several northeastern American cities. While in America, he also recorded two songs, “Hungry Days” and “Good Tidings” for Willie Carson’s Front Page label. He returned to Jamaica to concentrate on his song writing and met Michael Stanford of M Rush Records for whom he recorded several singles including “Black Woman” and “If Love So Nice”.

“If love So Nice” took a detour through Europe along its route to the top of the Jamaican charts, a position which it securely held for 15 weeks, making it the longest charting number one tune on the island for the year 2000.

“If love so Nice”, one of, if not the most impressive Reggae song, impacted upon Jamaica with a force not experienced since hurricane Gilbert, posing a question every man and woman has asked at least once in a lifetime: “If love so nice, tell me why it hurt so bad?” Utilizing the forceful bass line played by Aston “Familyman” Barrett” on Bob Marley’s timeless tune “Stir It Up” gave “If Love So Nice” a familiar underpinning even though the vocalist Junior Kelly, delivering classic Jamaican blend of precision deejay timing and lovers rock crooning, was unknown to most Reggae fans.

Despite his seemingly sudden rise to success, Junior Kelly, also the writer of “If Love So Nice”, has been assiduously toiling in the music industry since 1985. “Some say this is a lucky break, I say no, it’s a result of hard work,” explains the affable sing-jay Kelly who cut his first single “Over Her Body” in 1985 for Neco Records. “Some say that culture in the music is a dying art form but it’s not. You have artists like myself who try to uplift the nation with words you can live by, there’s just less attention given to us by radio disc jockeys.”

Despite the attention ‘ IF LOVE SO NICE” has deservingly received, Junior Kelly is more than a one hit wonder ; A listen to his Jet Star albums ‘Rise” and “Juvenile”, not to mention his VP Records debut album of the same name “If love so nice” more than supports this claim. They all demonstrate the diversity of his song writing expertise and continue along the same positive path.

His fifth album, soon to be released on the VP label is entitled “Smile” and features a much more mature Junior Kelly. He preaches messages of love on tracks such as “Never let you down”, “Sinking Feeling”, “Under the Moonlight” and “Baby can we meet”; Black consciousness on the hit track “Black am I”; Social Commentary on tracks such as “Running from the law” and “Youth dem scared”. The title track “Smile” he says, is for all those persons who experience hardships and stumbling blocks on a daily basis, “put your faith and trust in the Most High and just Smile, never let them see you cry, because things will soon get better”.

Just as humbly as he has dealt with his international chart success, Junior Kelly views the power of his live performance as a means to a far greater end. “ When I am in a crowd, it could only be twenty people and if some say I love your performance that fills me up right in my heart”. Junior Kelly has not only been busy in the Recording Studio, but also on the stage spreading his message far and wide. He has been touring Europe and the Caribbean extensively and has cemented his name among the list of top Reggae Ambassadors who are here to stay.

There is a message in the music and in the wrong hands it can be very dangerous, in the right hands, it can be very medicinal and therapeutic. And in the hands of Junior Kelly it’s a correctly prescribed dosage of musical healing!

During the year 2001-2002, Junior Kelly had taken a hiatus from the Jamaican music scene in order to spread the message to a wider audience. This sojourn has taken him to places in the Caribbean such as Antigua, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Maarten, Trinidad, Barbados, St. Lucia, Guyana, French Guyana, Suriname.

He also did an extensive 6 week US tour – east and west coast – March/April 2001 where he opened for Reggae Singer Luciano in order to promote the VP album “Love So Nice” . Backed by the Firehouse Crew, Junior Kelly held his own and demonstrated his musical prowess establishing him as a force to reckon with.

At the end of 2001, Junior had a very unfortunate automobile accident which saw him go through a lengthy recovery period as he suffered from injuries such as 2 punctured lungs, several broken ribs and a fractured hip. This caused him not to perform at the major events in 2001 and early 2002.

Junior rose above the injuries quickly in order to do a very successful promotional 3 week Europe Tour in March 2002 which included Holland, France, Scandinavia. So much so he was again requested to do another 3 week tour including the UK in Summer 2002.

Junior is currently completing final mixing on his second album for VP Records entitled “Smile” to be released in January 2003. The album will include the single “Sinking Feeling” – Video etc. – Lance please fill in.

Performances for the rest of the year include Antigua – October 26, Martinique and Guadeloupe – Nov. 22 & 23.