Christopher Ellis drops My Sound honouring Jamaica’s selectors and clash culture

Reggae vocalist Christopher Ellis has put Jamaica’s sound system tradition at the centre of his newest release, My Sound, arguing the culture sits among his first musical memories rather than a late-career theme.

The track is a high-energy salute to selectors, mobile sounds, and clash rivalry — forces Ellis credits with helping reggae claim a worldwide profile. Grammy-winning artiste and producer Damian “Jr Gong” Marley handled production, with the single issued via Ghetto Youths International. The mix leans on familiar reggae groundings while keeping a present-day finish.

Ellis says his link to the scene began long before studio work defined his path.

“For me, sound system culture is something I was involved in from before I even became an artiste,” he said. “This song is more expressive of what sound system culture involves — clash, friendly war, and everything that comes with it.”

Family history tightens that bond. His father, rocksteady icon Alton Ellis, worked closely with sounds and drew him into the circuit as a child.

“My father used to record dubplates for sounds and he would tell me to do the second verse,” Ellis recalled with a laugh. “Sometimes the sounds wouldn’t even want that, but they were a little apprehensive to tell him they preferred him alone on the dub. Anyway, this is where it started for me.”

Those formative years still colour his catalogue. He points out that earlier cuts such as Still Go A Dance and Rub A Dub have already won support among sound system crews overseas.

My Sound lands while Ellis’s international profile keeps rising after notable sets at SXSW London and a sold-out headlining night earlier this year at London’s Jazz Café — bookings that have strengthened his standing among today’s leading reggae voices.

Driven by a brisk, uptempo reggae pulse, the single channels the charge of Jamaican dance venues and tips its hat to the sound systems long credited with carrying reggae outward. Marley’s current production sits beside Ellis’s grounded vocal approach, linking older and newer reggae listeners without leaving the island’s roots behind.

As Ellis keeps building his own body of work, My Sound doubles as praise for an enduring local tradition and proof that major reggae talents still draw from the customs that formed them. The single is out now across major digital streaming services.