Alborosie & The Shengen Clan

Sicilian reggae artist Alborosie refers to himself as the Italian Reggae Ambassador, building on a lifelong love of roots reggae and slowly becoming one of the more unlikely dancehall and reggae stars in Jamaica. The son of a retired police officer, Alborosie taught himself to play guitar, bass, drums, and piano. By 1993, when he was just 15, he was playing in the Italian reggae band Reggae National Tickets, billing himself as Stena. In 2001, he decided to leave the group for a solo career, and moved to Jamaica to be closer to the musical culture that had so inspired him. It wasn't an easy move, and the singer even got his moniker by affixing the "Al" from his name to the derogatory Jamaican term "Borosie," a sharper reading of "jerk" that got thrown at him a lot early on in his new home of Kingston. He began work as a sound engineer and producer, participating in projects by artists like Ky-Mani Marley, while still continuing to work and develop his own material. He released his first solo album, Soul Pirate, in 2008, which generated a lot of positive critical attention internationally. He followed it a year later in 2009 with Esca... more...