I intend to marry one day-Romain Virgo

By Caroline Nyanga | 7yrs ago | 3 min read

Pulse: What should Kenyans expect from you during your concert?

Romain Virgo: My main aim goal has always been to give my fans a memorable treat. My band and I intend to give our Kenyan fans one hundred and fifty per cent of our energy on stage and off stage. We not only want them to feel the Jamaican vibe and culture but also the love we have for them.

P: Let us in on your latest project?

RV: It’s a hit single dubbed Love Sick from my latest album, which I am working on. The album is unique in the sense that it is a story and a movement. That aside, I have two other albums.

P: You are known to love lovers’ rock style of reggae music. Should we expect that from this release?

RV: Definitely. Well put, I like to bond with my fans through songs that touch on their lives, things they can relate to.

P: Your cover of Sam Smith’s Stay with Me is still one of the biggest songs you are known for. Did you see that coming?

RV: The original song was and is still big. You can’t get such a song and go wrong with it.

P: Why do you think fans, especially female fans, ‘die’ for you?

RV: The fact that I am real, telling it as it is through my music, is what make people relate with me. Like I said, I sing songs that resonate with everyday life. I get immense support and love from fans across the world simply because music is a universal language.

P: At 24 and still in school, how do you manage to juggle that with a music career?

RV: As a Bachelor of Arts student at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, majoring in voice and keyboard, it has not been easy balancing music and school. There are times when I have been forced to miss out on classes.

P: That means, once or twice, you have deferred?

RV: Yes. Despite everything, I know that I can always find time to go back and complete my education.

P: Is it true that big song writers like Nicholas Browner and Busy Signal write your hits?

RV: When I started my career, I wrote a number of songs like Mi Caan Sleep, Love Doctor and Rain is Falling. At some point though I sort help from the likes of Busy Signal and D-Major. However, nowadays I work with renowned songwriter Nicholas Browne of Lifeline Music.

P: You are from Kingston, the reggae capital of the world. How is it like being the latest sensation from there?

RV: It is amazing. No other city in the world is capable of keeping that light of reggae fire burning with new artistes who are emerging every day. That is what I am doing. Reggae and dancehall are both very popular in Jamaica and although there is a balance between the two, dancehall is more popular.

P: You dream big.... Who influences you?

RV: I grew up listening to the likes of Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Elton Ellis, Luciano, Sizzla, Capleton and Beres Hammond. Outside Jamaica it has to be Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Sam Cooke. I love it soulful.

P: Is this the man you always wanted to be, growing up?

RV: I was born and brought up in the countryside of Jamaica – Stepney in St Ann Parish – a few miles away from where Bob Marley was born. As a child I grew up listening to reggae music. With time I embraced music as my first love and sang in a church. So yes, I grew up into this life.

P: With this busy schedule and focus, one can guess dating is out of the equation, right?

RV: Let’s just say that I intend on getting married someday. I am working on that. Like you said, for now, it is all about my career.

P: But the girls keep coming... how do you keep it polite?

RV: With the kind of music I do, it has never been a bother but rather a sign of appreciation to see lots of female fans around me. What counts is that at the end of it all I keep it professional.