In a music industry that often sees artists come and go in a flash, Romain Virgo remains a constant figure in reggae music, standing strong 16 years after his debut.

Despite his ongoing success, the celebrated Jamaican singer remains down-to-earth and humble.

“Without the support of people, we would be nowhere. What would we do if somebody doesn’t take up our music and listen to it or play it on the radio, at a party or stream it online? Or if nobody comes to your show? In the midst of everything, we can’t forget that, regardless of our talent.”

Bearing a lot of musical influences and mentors over the years, he was once told to ensure that people first love him for his character, as trends and the quality of one’s music can change. Virgo greatly attributes his relevance to his authenticity, on and off stage.

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“They always say if you manage to survive a decade in doing anything at all, it’s almost like something that can go for however long,” he said. “I feel like as much as people will jump onto whatever is hot now, they have a certain level of respect for authenticity at the end of the day. It has never felt like I’m forcing it by staying true to myself; it’s almost one of the easiest things to do, but I feel it’s also one of the things people love and respect about me and what I do… I try to be the person that people will see and hear in the music when they see me in the streets.”

Guidance From Reggae Veterans

But there’s something else he’s integrated in his strategy for longevity and that is maintaining quality control in his music.

“I feel like every song deserves time and that is what we’re doing: put out a song, put a good video behind it, and we promote it as hard as possible, then move to the next,” he shared. Our dancehall culture has influenced us so much to put out a lot of music and if we’re not careful as singers or people who are doing, for example, roots, lovers rock and reggae music, we’ll get caught up in the trend of just putting out music every single time. It’s good if it’s working, but if not, you’ll have to find a way to try and make at least one song work for a year or for six months, and that is my strategy.”

This hasn’t always been the case. Virgo shared that it was after sitting with veterans like Beres Hammond and absorbing their approach to music that he did some reworking.

“Sometimes it’s just three or four songs for the year and maybe one from the four becomes a big song, and that is how he (Beres) has been doing it over the years,” he said. “Eventually, I realised that maybe I’ve been doing it the wrong way and I should probably just focus on making good enough songs that I know I will want to sing every single day… So, it’s just learning from the past and trying to do that regardless of how long it might take to connect.”