KINGSTON, Jamaica — Coming off what he described as a “steady but great production year”, experienced music producer Richard Roache says he’s looking forward to building on that momentum in 2024 as he aims to push his label, Digital One Records, even further.

In an interview with Observer Online, Roache, who has a number of huge projects to launch this year, says there’s nothing but greatness in store not just for his label, but for the industry on a whole.

“2023 was a steady but great year for Digital One. We released some productions that really stood its ground, one of which was our Roots and Righteous reggae project which came out in February to mark reggae month. That featured the likes of Mykal Rose and Junior Reid, Lutan Fyah, Warrior King, Jesse Royal to name a few,” he said.

“That would have been a monster project and then we followed up with our long-awaited project which was a remake of a classic that was modernised by Shinehead when he did Strive,” he continued. “We remade that beat with Computer Paul and we had some great songs on it. That production started the work we’re doing with Turbulence who has been seeing a huge resurgence in his career recently. We also had G Whizz, Formula One, Kevin Hill, Lukie D, Patexx, Badda General and Tearah, so many others.”

Having had the chance to work with so many of Jamaica’s best musical talent in 2023, Roache says there’s no slowing down this year and has already planned the release of his latest project, the Proclamation Riddim.

“I name projects not just because of songs but because of meaning and we’re proclaiming that 2024 will be an even bigger year musically for Digital One. Most of the songs on it are proclaiming stuff. So we have G Whizz on it proclaiming that no matter what you’re going through, you’ll rise, we have Tearah on it giving thanks then we have Turbulence proclaiming his love for his special someone. Everything on it has meaning,” he said.

Speaking of which, Roache told Observer Online that a lot of his success last year was courtesy of his hardworking team, people he considers family and people who gave his label and work greater meaning.

“I try not to ever in my productions, take the glory for myself because none of what I achieved last year would have been possible without persons like Fire Wayne from Echo One Productions, Computer Paul, Sukku,” he said, detailing his plans to go harder in 2024. “This year I want to put some more energy behind the work. We have artistes we’re working with that we want to put to the forefront some more and put out some great quality productions. Look out for a single called Rasta Dance from Turbulence as well as the video for that, songs from G Whizz, Lukie D, Tearah and more. We’re just going to be pushing out a lot while we can.”