#Posthumous U-Roy Album Announced: Listen to a New Song Featuring Santigold

A posthumous album from the dancehall icon U-Roy has been announced. It’s called Solid Gold U-Roy and it arrives July 16 via Trojan Jamaica/BMG. The LP features a string of guest stars, including Ziggy Marley, Shaggy, Mick Jones of the Clash, Jesse Royal, Richie Spice, and more. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the new single: a cover of “Man Next Door,” featuring Santigold. Watch the music video below.

“It was such an honor to get to work on this project with U-Roy, a true creator,” Santigold said in a press release. “He was a major pioneer in a genre that influenced me so deeply. And it just so happened that the song I was asked to sing, ‘Man Next Door,’ has been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. It felt so special to get to sing that song in particular—I knew the harmonies in my body without having to think for a second—and to hear his voice cutting through, driving the rhythm, drawing us all into his world. What a gift that I got a chance to sing on this track with him. He was one of the greats.”

“Man Next Door” is a reggae standard written by John Holt and originally released by his group the Paragons in 1968. U-Roy sampled the song in 1982 for “Peace and Love in the Ghetto.” The visual for “Man Next Door” was filmed in 2018; Santigold’s scenes were captured separately later that year. The video was directed by Nick Franco/1185 Films in collaboration with Trojan Jamaica co-founders Zak Starkey and Sharna “Sshh” Liguz.

“We met U-Roy through our friend, Wayne Jobson, who took us to meet him in Kingston in early 2018,” Liguz said. “We ate lunch and got on great, and talked about re-recording his greatest hits, with him joined by special guest artists. He was easy to talk to, very dignified and confident, but very approachable. Cool looking and unassuming, but then he would open his mouth, and out would come a big, booming statement.”

 Starkey added:

Three weeks after our meeting, we started recording in Trojan Jamaica Sounds studio in Ocho Rios. U-Roy would toast his songs live and Sshh would sing the songs that were to be sung later by the guests. Sshh and U-Roy bonded quickly doing this and had a lot of fun doing it. The band was Sly & Robbie, Tony Chin, Robbie Lyn and me. We had to work quickly (four days), as U-Roy was leaving for a six-week European tour right after recording his parts. After he split to go on tour, we spent a couple of months overdubbing and adding the guest artists. Most artists came to our studio in JA and some recorded at their own studios.

“We had always loved U-Roy because of the power of his voice, and his lyrics, with their humor and seriousness,” Liguz said. “We made the Solid Gold album because we wanted everyone to know that U-Roy helped invent rap.”

U-Roy died in February at age 78. Solid Gold U-Roy, originally set to be released in 2020, is being released in tribute to the toasting legend.

Solid Gold U-Roy:

01 Trenchtown Rock [ft. Ziggy Marley]02 Man Next Door [ft. Santigold]03 Rule the Nation [ft. Shaggy]04 Tom Drunk [ft. Tarrus Riley]05 Wake the Town
06 Stop That Train [ft. Rygin King]07 Natty Rebel (Natty Rebel) [ft. David Hinds]08 Queen Majesty (Chalice in the Palace) [ft. Robbie Shakespeare]09 Small Axe [ft. Jesse Royal]10 Wear You to the Ball [ft. Richie Spice]11 Every Knee Shall Bow (Miseducation) [ft. Big Youth and Mick Jones]12 Miseducation Every Knee Shall Bow (Scientist Dub)