Jethro ‘Alonestar’ Sheeran Says His Family Has Always Been A Fan Of Reggae Music
British rapper Jethro ‘Alonestar’ Sheeran, first cousin of superstar Ed Sheeran, says his family has always been enthralled by Reggae music.
“The Sheerans are a big fan of Reggae. We grew up on it. I was born and raised in a West Indian cultural background in St Paul’s, Bristol when the frontline. Reggae music was blazing from every block from big sound systems (and) DJs playing block parties. I grew up listening to course Bob Marley, Hugh Mundell and my uncle introduced me to Afrobeat from the 70s—he was a world music DJ and played all sorts of Reggae music also,” Sheeran told DancehallMag.
Jethro’s single I’m A Star, which features Ed and American rapper DaBaby, recently peaked at No. 10 on the US iTunes Dance Chart. It was executively produced by Sean “Contractor” Edwards and co-produced by Herbert Skillz.
Sheeran noted that the track has been speaking for itself, so, the recognition was partially expected.
“I was really happy to see I’m A Star doing so well and climbing the top ten in the charts in the USA. It’s such a great song and deserves to be number one. I was happily surprised, and slightly shocked as this song is 100 per cent organic growth with little to no promo. It just shows the listeners of today still appreciate great music and will seek a good song,” he said.
Sheeran has been an artist since 2004 under his record label Urban Angel selling CDs at shows in London. At this point in his career, he has surpassed 100 million streams cumulatively across several platforms.
He revealed that he and Contractor have had a long-standing working relationship over the years that has yielded positive results.
“I met Contractor in a pub in London. Both our girlfriends at the time knew each other and introduced us. I was not long back from living in Trinidad (and) being artists ourselves, and both a big fan of Hip Hop and Reggae and music marketing it was a matchup made to succeed. We have worked together ever since in some capacity,” he said.
Many Jamaicans would have formed a connection between the Sheeran clan and Dancehall when Ed collaborated with Ishawna on Brace It. Produced by Skatta, Donovon ‘Don Corleon’ Bennett, and Ishawna under her Legendary Records label, the official visualizer has 628,000 views on YouTube.
Around the time of its release, the track climbed to No. 9 on the iTunes Top 100 Reggae Songs charts in the United States, and No. 87 on the iTunes UK Charts.
Meanwhile, Sheeran reasoned that more Jamaican artists need to tap into the European market to see a boost in their listenership, fanbase, and profitability.
“I believe for instance people like DJ Khaled, Ed Sheeran etcetera doing big colabs with Jamaican artists help bring them to a different audience in the world, and the other way around,” he said.
Added Sheeran, “I would like to see more Jamaican artists touring the UK and Europe and more Europeans doing Reggae music also for people like Sean “Contractor” Edwards who has the key to the gateway with his marketing company for Jamaican artists, to help crossover in different territories. Bob Marley did this many years ago and was signed to UK record company Island Records. Bob Marley was everywhere on TV when I was growing up and seeing his music videos for Waiting In Vain etcetera. I think Damian Marley also helped a lot of artists crossover with his music and collabs with the likes of US Hip Hop star Nas.”
Sheeran said he has his eyes set on Tommy Lee Sparta and Mavado for future collaborations.