Tarrus Riley | |
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 Riley at the Summerjam Festival 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Omar Riley |
| Born | (1979-04-26)26 April 1979 (age 45) The Bronx,New York,United States |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | tarrusriley |
Omar "Tarrus" Riley (born April 26, 1979,Bronx,New York, United States) is a Jamaican-Americanreggae singer and member of theRastafari movement.[1]
Riley was born inThe Bronx, New York, United States, and was raised inJamaica. His fatherJimmy Riley was a veteran reggae singer. Tarrus made his recording debut as a teenager. In 2004, he released his debut album,Challenges.
Riley has consistently racked up awards for his work. Among his accolades are Best Singer, Male Vocalist, Cultural Artiste, Song of the Year, and Best Song. Some of the awards institutions that have rewarded Riley include the Youth View Awards, The Star People's Choice Awards, EME Awards, and the Reggae Academy awards. He is the holder of Jamaica'sCVM TV's 15th Anniversary Award, held in February 2009, for the "Most Admired Song in the Past 15 Years" for the hit "She's Royal".
In 2009 Riley released his third album,Contagious, on Cannon Productions. The album was distributed byVP Records. It contained the hits "Start Anew", "Contagious", and "Good Girl Gone Bad" featuringKonshens and Superman, a cover of aRobin Thicke original. 2010 saw the release of the chart-topper "Protect the People", which scaled several charts in Jamaica and across the Caribbean. Early 2011 saw the release of the Black History-themed "Shaka Zulu Pickney", which was featured on aNyabinghi rhythm album from Bombrush Music. The video for the song, which was directed byStorm Saulter, was well received upon its release.His interest in educating the youth about Black History resulted in the Tarrus Riley Freedom Writers Competition, which ran on Jamaica's Irie FM radio station.
2011 also saw the release of videos for hit singles including "Come Ova" and "Never Leave I". Both songs became hits on Jamaican radio as well as in several Caribbean territories. Riley has performed on several stages around the world. His performances have drawn credible reviews from the media in the Caribbean, North America, the United States and Europe.
Riley tours Europe once each year, performing on the major reggae festivals in several European countries. Riley's most recent high-profile performances include the 2011 Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival andRoskilde Festival 2011 in Denmark,Reggae Sumfest 2010,Betty Wright and Friends in concert in Jamaica, and the Palmyra Foundation's Fundraising event. He also headlined the Hennessey Artistry show inBarbados in December 2011, with a return to the same event scheduled for December 2019.
Among his accolades in 2011 were the EME Awards (Excellence in Music and Entertainment) for Vocalist of the Year Male and Cultural Artiste of the Year. Riley also copped the 2011 Youth View Award for Cultural Artiste of the Year.
Riley released the acoustic albumMecoustic in 2012 and toured Europe in support of it with his Blak Soil band.[2]
He worked with saxophonist and producerDean Fraser on his 2014 albumLove Situation, which he described as "a true tribute to the rocksteady era", and features guest appearances fromU-Roy,Big Youth,Konshens andMr. Cheeks.[3][4] The album gave Riley his first number-one placing on theBillboard Reggae Albums chart in February 2014.[5]
Riley was featured onMajor Lazer's song "Powerful", from the 2015 albumPeace Is the Mission, along withEllie Goulding.
In 2020, he collaborated with male producerRvssian and female dancehall artistShenseea on the song "Lighter" which emerged as one of his biggest hits in the Caribbean and their native country Jamaica.[6]
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