SOUTH FLORIDA – A proud Jamaican, G Cole is not afraid to express his patriotism. Which he does on Black Green And Reggae, his fourth album, which is slated for release on September 19.
The South Florida-based singer said the colors of Jamaica’s flag were an inspiration for the album’s title. Music also played a role.
“The black on our flag signifies hardships faced and to be overcome. The green signifies the rich, green land and topography, the gold is the natural wealth and beauty of the sunshine,” G Cole explained. “But sometimes the days are cloudy, sometimes the days are rainy. Regardless of what the day is, there’s always reggae music playing. It’s the only constant.”
Two songs — Your Love and Feeling The Love (with Ed Robinson) — from the album have been released.
Black Green And Reggae will be released digitally and on vinyl. For G Cole, the latter format seemed natural, given the growing global demand for records in the past 10 years.
”I have followed the resurgence of vinyl and I’ve strongly advocated for it, but the truth is, most genres never stopped making the vinyls, it was the reggae section that was getting smaller,” he noted. “It is expensive, especially since reggae artists aren’t given the budget of most other genres, but I’m hoping I can inspire some artists to do vinyl.”
G Cole is a native of Ocho Rios, one of Jamaica’s leading tourist areas. He was raised on the music of reggae greats such as Dennis Brown and Beres Hammond.
This Music 2.0, his third album, was released in 2023.
