The Yute from Portmore, that’s the title of the sophomore album by dancehall artiste Nowlege. The eight-track set is scheduled for release on Friday, June 16.

It is the follow-up to Nowlege’s 2020 release Big and Heavy which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.

Nowlege, who is originally from Portmore in St Catherine, has resided in the US Midwest state of Kansas since 2005.

He shared the idea behind the name of the album.

“The name of the album came from a simple conversation that I was having with a friend about someone who was trying to remember my name and they said ‘the yute from Portmore’ So that’s really how the name for the album came about,” Nowlege explained.

The Yute from Portmore features the tracks Nuh Worry Me, One Choice, Amazing (featuring Nneoma Lanea), Call to Action, Voice of the People, If You Want, Hurt Again and Big and Heavy featuring veteran deejay Burro Banton.

The album, which took six months to be completed, features production work by Kana Kiehm, Youth Man Records and Clear Shot Media LLC.

Said Nowlege: “I have learned not to rush the music and to be patient. Also don’t overwhelm the fans with too much at one time.”

He spoke about working with Burro Banton.

“The producer of the track suggested that we needed to put someone on the track and Burro was the only one who came to my mind. So, we contacted his people about it, and he loved the track, and we did the song,” Nowlege disclosed.

Nowlege, real name Jerome Foster, spent most of his years in Edgewater and Bridgeport in Portmore before moving to Portmore Pines.

He attended the Bridgeport High school where he was on the school’s high jump team and later participated in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Boys’ Championship at National Stadium in Kingston in 2003 before taking up a scholarship at Kansas City Community College, where he studied audio engineering.

He has performed and shared stages with artistes who have passed through the Midwest, including Tarrus Riley, Etana, Sizzla, Capleton, Tanya Stephens, and Yellowman.