JADA KINGDOM BIOGRAPHY
Dancehall or reggae may not outrightly come to mind when you hear the island emo sounds of 20-year-old songstress Jada Kingdom. If one could mash up the rawness of Lady Saw with a soft melodic lovers rock edge, lead by a rounded cruise controlled voice, this is what you would get. Kingdom, birthed as Jada Ashanti Murphy, was sexually assaulted growing up. Reckoning with that, she chose her stage name to reflect her viewing her body as a kingdom — one that she’s vowed to protect at all costs. She first gained popularity on Instagram in 2016 as a swimwear model. A year later, she pivoted to music, joined forces with Julian Jones-Griffith of Pop Style Music, and dropped her first officially released song with “Love Situations.”
Her Jamaican roots can be heard in her witty patois, boasted on tracks such as “Banana.” The tropical infectious song with stacatto-like verses and a smooth chorus is as catchy as a commercial, delivering mumbling vocals about the Cavendish fruit while causing grown folks to harmonize about genitals. It has also sparked a viral Caribbean lyrical battlefield known as the #bananachallenge. Its reach has surpassed that of the likkle island, extending to New York’s top radio stations and regular rotation in the U.K.. Last week “Banana” was re-released on Island Records, but Kingdom has more where that came from.