Dre Island Makes Mass Appeal’s List of
“16 Artists To Watch in 2016”

Anticipation Builds For The Now I Rise Project

A graduate of Kingston’s Calabar high school—alma mater of both Jr. Gong and Vybz Kartel—reggae/dancehall producer turned performer Andre Johnson aka Dre Island is emerging as a living link between the vaunted “roots revival” movement and the sound of the Jamaican streets. “The revival is really within the people. Reggae music never stop. Reggae artists always been touring. So it’s just the people’s awareness.” On the strength of his growing body of work, Dre has been named one of Mass Appeal’s “16 Artists To Watch in 2016.”  More After The Jump… From his debut mixtape, Rastafari Way, to recent hits like “Way Up” and “M16”—taken from his forthcoming Now I Rise project—Dre Island’s lyrical attack has been both hard and heartical, streetwise and sensible. Which other young artist in Jamaica exhibits so much range and versatility? He’s cool with Popcaan’s Unruly Gang—appearing in the video for “Rup Rup (Bad Inna Real Life)” and he has also toured Europe with Chronixx and recently collabed with UK singer Tom Prior on “Apple Tree,” a single from The Brixton Soup Kitchen EP, to benefit a British charity for the homeless. “An island is a small land mass surrounded by water,” he reasons. “But if you read further it’s also a place where you go to find yourself.”

Reshma B Reasons with Dre Island: “No Man Is An Island”

Reshma B Reasons with Dre Island: “Big Up Chronixx”

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