Dancehall artist Roze Don on COVID breakthrough, Spanish Town roots and Shake Whatever EP

Viral Jamaican dancehall artist Roze Don sat with TVJ Daytime Live to trace how a call-centre worker became one of the louder new voices of the genre, and to flag the reception to his three-song EP Shake Whatever.

Hosts noted that clips of his records circulate heavily on social media. Roze Don said his father was once linked in family talk to the idea of him becoming a pastor — not because the elder truly wanted that path, he clarified, but because of an image of pastors with flashy vehicles. What his parents do celebrate, he said, is his music career and the pride of introducing him as their son.

After school he started college, then money troubles pushed him into a call-centre job he held for about a year. When COVID-19 locked the country down, he stayed home and sharpened his craft online. The hosts pointed out that most artists break through on stage; his breakthrough came while venues were shut. Roze Don framed it as reading the moment: people were stuck indoors with phones and television, so staying visible on those screens was the route to an audience.

He is no longer based in Spanish Town itself but lives nearby and returns to his hometown almost daily. Neighbours, he said, recognise him from television and have backed him since childhood, urging him to live up to the talent they saw early.

On the demand for another hit after breakthrough records, he admitted management and industry pressure can weigh, yet he still finds songs in studio vibes and ordinary workplace moments rather than forcing them. He writes for both men and women, but said female listeners react strongest — and male fans tend to follow. Songwriting, for him, mirrors life around him. He credited Sham, a community dance creator, as the spark for one track after he saw her style; she asked for a couple of small changes, then embraced the song once it hit the airwaves.

His stage name joins his surname Rose with “Don.” Face tattoos — including motifs he linked to sadness and stress — he described as part of building a dancehall image, not mere stunts. Shake Whatever, a three-track EP issued around November last year and aimed squarely at women and dancefloor waistline energy, is streaming on major platforms, and he said female fans have taken to it. Online, he is easy to find under Roze Don — R-D-O-N.