King Cruff: This is Modern Reggae

The grandson of Bob Marley is here to shake up the genre with hip-hop, dancehall, and Afrobeats energy.

by Ozioma Nwabuikwu

Published on November 19, 2024

King Cruff has been around. He’s gone from Kingston, Jamaica all the way to London, Ontario and as his music career bloomed, the bright lights of Toronto and California beckoned. “I’m a dreamer…I be moving anywhere just to make this music thing happen, you know?”

But you wouldn’t know how hectic it’s been looking at him. As he settles into his seat for our interview, it’s immediately evident that he’s mastered maintaining perpetual cool and humility in the face of nonstop uncertainty.

Cruff’s willingness to push boundaries for his creativity doesn’t only apply to location – it’s essential to his music philosophy. Though reggae and dancehall are his first loves, his debut EP, WHAT HAVE I ‘DON, boasts additional genre explorations that will satisfy everyone from pop-rock fans to long-time Afrobeats aficionados. The result is an honest and dynamic debut that’s clear in its ambition to uplift others while having as much fun as possible.

The title of the EP came at the tail-end of a reflection on his career: “As creatives, we always get a feeling of imposter syndrome, right?” he says. “A feeling of like, ‘Am I really meant to be here or did I just trick everybody?’ I was thinking about all the things that I’ve done in my life leading up to this moment; the sacrifices I’ve made, the good and the bad. And I was like, oh my God, like, what have I done?” he says with a chuckle.

He wouldn’t change it for the world, but his path to where he is now has definitely been a rollercoaster, especially when he realized the music he wanted to make was so different. “[Fusion with reggae] is still a very niche thing to do [in Jamaica], but I feel like once that music finds its market, people are going to understand that this is literally some of the best music that’s being made in the entire world,” he says emphatically, his face lighting it up as it tends to do whenever he talks about reggae or production. It’s a fitting statement from the grandson of Bob Marley, a legend who was intrigued by experimentation in his short life. The mantle doesn’t feel too heavy for Cruff, though. “I think if Bob was around, he’d be proud of how all the cousins are moving, the third generation. He’d be like, ‘You guys, do whatever you want to do.’ You know what I mean? And figure it out. As long as you’re not hurting yourself or anybody else.”

WHAT HAVE I ‘DON may be a sonic voyage, but it is rooted in home – and King Cruff has known many. Beginning with the triumphant second track featuring cousin Skip Marley, “Jack’s Hill Dreamers” chronicles the rise of both musicians from their time in the Jack’s Hill neighbourhood of Kingston, Jamaica to where they are now.

On the Afrobeats-infused “Toronto Condo Girls”, we sympathize with King Cruff and Solo Yt as they realise the big city is not all it’s cracked up to be. The metallic dancehall track “Rita’s Revenge” reminds us that he rides for his family, especially matriarch Rita Marley. “There’s a lot of strong women in my life, so I have a very deep reverence for them,” he says. “Any time that I get the chance to go on track and shout them out, make them feel special, make them know that they’re loved, I try to do my best.” And that he does on multiple instances throughout the project, including another Afrobeats classic, “SHEDOENEED” featuring Stonebwoy and Jag.Huligin. We find a fitting conclusion on the final track, “Way We Know,” a resonant piano ballad that perfectly balances his musical roots with the feel of an early 2010s pop melody.

King Cruff once described his music as ‘punky’ (no relation to the Punky Reggae Party by his grandfather). “‘Punky’ kind of represents that this is a different type of music that we’re making. It’s not like everything else,” he says. His commitment to experimentation is clear, but it’s not an attempt to run from reggae – rather, it’s for the rest of the world to embrace the genre he’s always loved. “I feel like that’s where music is going right now. We’re moving in a direction that not anything is just necessarily one genre. And I feel like that makes the best type of music, you know what I mean?” Afrobeats was a natural invitation, as we hear on the EP, but he’s intentional about learning about each genre before he partakes in it. This respect makes for classic takes on the genres, especially on fan-favourite “SHEDOENEED.”

On this journey, King Cruff has also found true collaborators in producer duo Banx & Ranx. They’re responsible for the vastly different sounds on “Easy” and “Way We Know.” “We all have a deep reverence for music that comes out of the Caribbean. But we also are like crazy creatives enough to know how we want to elevate that,” he says. King Cruff was also able to fulfill a lifelong dream while working on “Jack’s Hill Dreamers” with the Grammy nominated and multi-platinum music producer, Illmind. “I used to rap to Illmind beats when I was a kid. And now, you know, I was in the studio with him a couple months ago. Life is crazy.”

King Cruff wants people to connect with his music, remember to be grateful and most of all, feel seen. “How does he know what I’m going through?”, he says, patting his chest. “And the reason why is because I’m human, too. I’m going through what everybody else is going through.”