Kairo Mclean, 13, Is Canada’s JUNO ‘Reggae Recording Of The Year’ Winner
At age 13, Reggae/Dancehall singer Kairo McLean yesterday became the youngest winner of reggae recording of the year at the 2022 Juno Awards for his EP titled Easy Now.
The teen’s Easy Now came out ahead the other nominated projects By Any Means by Exco Levi, Don’t Let It Get to You by Josemar, Herb Dream by Blessed, and Too Ruff by Kirk Diamond and Finn.
The JUNO Awards’ (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys) more popularly known as the JUNOS, are presented annually to Canadian artistes and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all areas of music.
Kairo’s four-song EP consists of the tracks Fear, Rebel, Rise Again and the anti-violence, anti-corruption title track Easy Now. It also copped a nomination for Reggaeville’s Album of the Year.
In his address after being announced as the winner, a highly-pleased Kairo expressed gratitude to Jah, his parents, and primary supporters.
“I’d like to start by thanking His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, Jah Rastafari and my parents. I love you Mon; I love you Dad, Shanice, Alisha, yah man, Kirk Diamond, Esco and everyone who has helped me along the way. It’s an honour; thank you,” he said.
The teen also shared his success on his Instagram page noting: “YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE NEWEST JUNO WINNER!!!!! Thanks for all the love and support of this busy year.”
Kairo, who is son to a Jamaican father and a Canadian-Jamaican mother, hails from Toronto, and over the years has been performing on sound systems and doing live band performances at festivals across Canada.
Kairo has said in past interviews that Cocoa Tea’s Good Life and Bob Marley’s Stir It Up, tracks by Super Cat and other artists of the 1980s, were among his core memories in music from which he draws influence. He had also said that he had the opportunity to collaborate with some of my favourite artistes, his choices would be Yellow Man, Chronixx, and Big Youth.
In a recent interview with E-Talk CTV’s Chloe Wilde, the teen had also revealed that he was already working on a full album set to be released this summer, titled Thirteen.
Kairo has also said that while a lot of youths are gravitating to Hip Hop, EDM and Pop, his decision to pursue Reggae was a no-brainer, as Reggae was message music and since most of the genre’s singers preach love and peace, and, there was a general lack of empathy in society, he wanted to join them in bringing it back through his own music.
The youngster, who is a player of three musical instruments, was self-taught for the most part, but began taking drum lessons of the kette drum and the bongos and age three, and started the guitar at six, mastering it by age eight.
He said he grew up on “a heavy dose of old school reggae” which is deeply embedded in his own music, and is inspired by, a mixture of his own limited lived experiences, and by musicians before him, including Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, whom he noted “always write music that lasts a very long time”.
Kairo in a past interview had said “old school Reggae” was always playing in his household and that hearing and seeing the vintage artistes performing on videos, was very impactful on him.
“They’re just so exciting and so charismatic, especially Bob Marley, and the way he delivered his messages really spoke to my soul, and shaped who I am at 13 now. I try to live by the words that he put forth for the people of the future,” he had said.
Easy Now was released by Willow Records, after the owner whom he said had “done music together a little bit in the past” had approached his father “with an opportunity to join a band” and told him to “bring your son”, because he knew of his musical acumen.