Jesse Royal Stays Authentic to the Music

JESSE ROYAL BLOWS SMOKE OUT THE WINDOW OF A PARKED car as he puffs on a spliff. He might actually be in the driver’s seat but it’s hard to distinguish on our Zoom call that’s connecting an iPhone in Jamaica to a MacBook Pro in Los Angeles.

Royal’s demeanor is laid back and easy, his confidence smooth and his words articulate—exactly what you’d expect from an artist whose second album Royal is nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award for best reggae album. Despite his success—or perhaps in spite of it—Royal remains extremely grounded, present, and humble. As one of reggae’s prominent voices in the “reggae revival movement,” Royal focuses on injecting conscious messaging into his music—following in the footsteps of the greats who came before him—which has helped secure his position as one of music’s more prolific acts in the reggae genre.

Over the course of our conversation, he shares his insightful, Rastafari perspective on the world at large, the reconciliation of humanity, and why cannabis plays such a large role in his existence.

First and foremost, congrats on the Grammy nomination. You must be stoked.

I’m definitely stoked about it and super grateful. It’s definitely not something that we were looking for, but we’re definitely grateful for, you know? We try to stay as authentic as possible to the creation of the music. I don’t think the earth worries about diamonds or oils or minerals, it just does its thing and then you got all this shit coming out.

You do what’s right for you or what’s in alignment with you, and then from that place—if those other accouterments color your life—then great.

Exactly, all of those things are “pluses.” The greatest thing is manifesting all of these visions that you’ve had in your head. That’s the great thing for me, everything else is secondary.

How do you stay clear on the vision for what