Budding Jamaican recording artiste and actor Lyndon Forte recently completed a run in season 7 of the reality dating series Ready to Love.

The series, which is produced by Will Packer Media and Lighthearted Entertainment, airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

The series focuses on successful black men and women in their 30s and 40s in Atlanta, who are searching for love.

Forte plays himself, a bar manager.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Forte, who was born in Kingston (his brother is Washroom Entertainment producer Conroy Forte), shared how he became a part of the Ready to Love cast.

“Funny enough, I was approached by the producers of Ready to Love. They found my profile on Instagram and messaged me. I didn’t actually see the message, so they reached out to my manager. Once I looked into it and realised that Oprah and Will Packer were producing, I became interested. And, given my current relationship status, I said why not,” Forte disclosed.

Forte, who has some acting experience having landed a starring role in the 2014 film Destiny alongside Christopher Martin, Spice, and Ity and Fancy Cat, says his interest in acting developed while attending university in Miami.

“My interest in acting developed when I was in university. It originally started as a way for me to express myself. After a while I started to take it more seriously. I became a theatre minor, and the rest is history,” he said.

The latest season of Ready to Love ended a few weeks ago.

Asked whether his character will be back for season 7, Forte said “This season is over, but you never know what the future holds.”

Aside from acting, Forte sings, raps, and writes music. He has also dabbled a bit in music production. His most recent singles are Broken and Maury.

“I’ve been releasing music since about 2018. I currently have about 10 singles out at the moment. I started out as a producer and then transitioned into becoming an artiste. So most of my earlier music was a lot of myself on the production along with Washroom. Lately I’ve been working with this guy named Jostopac out of Nigeria,” said Forte.

Forte grew up in Liguanea and attended Vaz Preparatory. He later studied at Hillel Academy before moving to Miami.

“I’ve lived in Miami since I was about 10 years old. Now I live close to downtown Miami, Bricknell to be exact,” Forte shared.

Forte’s sound embodies elements of dancehall and Afro-pop blended flawlessly within an alternative R&B backdrop.

His introduction to music production and recording began when his older brother Conroy let him explore the makeshift “Washroom” studio he had set up – the unassuming production powerhouse that has worked with the likes of well-known dancehall artistes such as Sean Paul, Konshens, Demarco, Busy Signal, Masika, and Beenie Man, to name a few. Intrigued by what he saw, Forte knew then that this was something worth pursuing with all of his passion.

“Honestly, I’ve made all types of music; I like exploring different avenues. I have my Jamaican roots so that’s in my blood whether I like it or not. So I would say it’s a mixture of that and R&B. Lately my Jamaican roots have led me to explore the Afro wave that’s happening. The musicality and live instrumentation is really intriguing. I love it,” Forte reasoned.

Asked what he brings to the table musically, Forte was quick to say, “Something fresh. I genuinely feel like we have our own sound. The writing and song topics are also very relatable. I love making music about things we all identify with.”