Jerone’s leap of faith
Having spent three years as a teacher at St Patrick’s Primary School in Kingston, Jerone Riley quit his job this year to pursue a music career.
Going by his first name, the singer debuted his first song Wake Up on digital platforms months ago. The conscious track, written by Jerone and musician Lavish, deals with hardships faced by the average Jamaican trying to earn an honest living. Jerone hopes it will inspire listeners.
“It’s a song for when people are going through a hard time just to remember that the morning comes after the night,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “As they say, the darkest part of the night is right before daylight, so not because you’re going through something now means that is the end of it. It’s a heartfelt song and it hits home, when people hear it; it resonates with them as well,” he said.
Jerone hails from Waterhouse in Kingston and teamed up with community-based RB Records to produce Wake Up. Even though this is his first project, he is not a newcomer to music.
The singer placed in the top 10 of last year’s Digicel Rising Stars’ competition. While only a few contestants achieve mainstream success (including winners Christopher Martin and Romain Virgo), Jerone has no fear of falling to the wayside.
“I’m not fearful of being boxed into a category of ‘the Rising Star artiste’ because I think the talent will tell over time,” he said. “Yeah, people will know that he debuted on Rising Stars’ “cause that’s where they know you from initially but the whole stigma of being that will kinda go after a while.”
Jerone is now working on his debut EP for release next year.
“It’s too early to give any details on it, but if we record enough great songs it may become an album,” he said. “I’m not going to necessarily stick myself to one specific genre but I’ve always had a mandate that I want to sing songs that my students can listen to, so I don’t want to be too derogatory or edgy but I still want to be able to capture all crowds.”