AFTER making inroads in the Reggae iTunes charts with his album Break the Chain this year, Jamaica-born, United Kingdom-based reggae singer Randy Valentine is preparing for the release of his seven-track EP in February.
The set, Still Pushing, will be released on the artiste's label Hemp Higher and produced by Joe Ariwa.
"I am blessed to have had such a great reaction to the album. I have been in the studios working hard on my latest EP to keep my growing fan base happy," Valentine told the Jamaica Observer.
According to the 25-year-old, Clarendon-born singer, the EP will be accompanied by shows already confirmed in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Australia.
The EP track listing includes Consequences, Black Cinderella, Where's The Love, Mama Said and Rolling Down.
Valentine, who recently visited Jamaica since migrating to England 11 years ago, spoke to the Observer, about his vision.
"This is my first visit back home since I left 11 years ago as a teen but I have been networking with a lot of local producers via the net. I've also met some in person while on tour in Europe. I'm even in the process of finalising projects with DJ Kurt Riley, Gavin Blair from Equinoxx, just to name a few," Valentine said.
A lover of old-school reggae, the singer believes that the art form still has currency internationally, even though there has been a noticeable absence of homespun reggae on mainstream popular music charts worldwide in recent years.
"I wouldn't say local reggae isn't connecting internationally because I, as an unknown artiste, along with the efforts of my team, managed to pull off two successful summer tours two years back-to-back with approximately 30 shows each. During that time on the road, I met a lot more artistes who were also touring alongside the international acts... so reggae is still doing well," he said.