Rolling Stone USA - 08.2019

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ROLLING STONE

ARTISTS TO WATCH

N A RECENT VISIT to New York from their native Jamaica, the
No-Maddz pop into a record store and seek out the reggae sec-
tion — only to find a few scant bins near the back. “They treat
it like it’s niche,” Sheldon “Sheppie” Shepherd says with a sigh.
Everaldo “Evie” Creary, his bandmate, nods: “Who is the new Bob or Tosh?”
Lofty ambition has always been key to the group’s MO. For nearly two dec-
ades, culminating in the eclectic upcoming LP, tentatively titled The No-Maddz
Heaven on Earth, the group has been pushing the boundaries of reggae while
honoring its roots. In 1998, Shepherd and Creary met in drama club at Kingston
College, the renowned Jamaican high school; by the early 2000s, they began
performing their self-styled “dub poetry.” Along the way, Shepherd and Creary
kept expanding their reach. They appeared in a Puma ad, which used their bub-
bly chant “Puka Poo,” and then cut a debut studio album with Sly and Robbie.
Co-produced by Major Lazer MC Walshy Fire, Heaven on Earth ups the cross-
over ante, blending in hip-hop (“Beat Dem Down,” a collaboration with friend
and actor Idris Elba) and old-school disco (“Wretched of the Earth”). “Some-
how people still see reggae constantly from the past,” Shepherd says. “But it
needs international eyes on it. We’re going in the right direction.” DAVID BROWNE

O

K OSIRIS BELIEVES contemporary R&B needs a little more

romance. “People don’t like talking about love songs no more,”

he says. The 20-year-old has taken it upon himself to fill that

void, delivering some of the most heartfelt crooning to hit the

charts since Usher’s dominant run in the early 2000s.

YK Osiris’ shows, typically packed with screaming teenage girls, attest to

the strategy’s success. He’s used to the environment, having grown up with six

sisters. “I had to be the man of the house,” says the artist, born Osiris Williams.

He earned his nickname when a math teacher who heard his raspy-voiced

singing in class dubbed him “young king.” He’d eventually channel his talents

into 2018’s “I’m Next (Freestyle),” which combined tender wordless vocals with

crude sexual boasts, and quickly racked up millions of streams.

Within months of the song’s release, he signed with Def Jam. Now he’s being

managed by Jas Prince, the same man who helped make Drake a megastar.

Last September, Osiris tweeted a photo of himself standing next to the Toronto

rapper, but he hesitates to draw any easy parallels between them. “Nobody

can put people in Drake’s position — if it happens, it happens for you,” he says.

“I know that I’m raw.” CHARLES HOLMES

Y

The No-Maddz

HOMETOWN Kingston, Jamaica
SOUNDS LIKE Golden-age reggae with an ear toward
today’s pop mainstream

YK Osiris

HOMETOWN Jacksonville, Florida

SOUNDS LIKE Smooth Nineties R&B gets a gritty

modern makeover

WAYNE LAWRENCE MERON MENGHISTAB