Recording artiste Jamali has announced his presence in dancehall will the release of his début album The Arrival.

The nine-track project was released on May 26.

The album notes MoodieBoy Entertainment as executive producer, with other producers being Majical Tahj, GspStretch, Jubba Dem x Lonewolf, Sartout Records, 1Dark Moon and J9.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer the artiste said:.“This body of work is definitely not repetitive. Each track has a different sound and different themes and topics are explored throughout. Overall, there is this flair of what dancehall has been missing. So we just add that to it to showcase a different level of versatility that has been missing for some time now.”

The Florida-based creative, whose given name is Jah-Marley Knight, spent a bit of his childhood between Portmore, St Catherine, and Clarendon, but ultimately spent most of his years in St Elizabeth, where he attended Newell High School.

He believes that now was the perfect time to turn his music career up a notch by releasing the album.

“As a young entertainer, sometimes you don’t really get the credit you deserve just based on the fact that you’re young in the business. Granted, I’ve been doing it for one year. At this point some people might say it’s early, but I look at it as it’s late, so why not showcase the talent in such a way that we just call it The Arrival,” Jamali explained.

He is known for tracks such as Gyallis, Revenues, Cómo te llamas, and Anytime (featuring Kacique).

The entertainer, who is also in the medical field, noted that all of the songs on the project were written on his lunch break.

“I have a pretty good handle when it comes to time management, especially when I have to prioritise tasks. Work and school definitely are demanding, but I make it work, I sacrifice lunch in terms of not eating and using the actual time to write the songs so I can get it out,” he explained.

Optimistic about an even brighter future in dancehall, Jamali is encouraging listeners all around the world to indulge in the album.

“The Arrival is out now. We have nine solid tracks and, to be honest, I’ve listened to everything that has dropped within this timespan and, from a non-biased perspective, this is one of the ‘sickest’ albums out right now,” he said.

— Kediesha Perry