BY MICHAEL THOMAS
“I love history, so I am the storyteller.”
Kemar Donaldson, also known as Kranium, was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and raised in Jamaica, Queens, NY. The Dancehall singer is notorious for his raw clever lyrics and ability to transcend musical barriers.
Kranium’s unique sound can be heard on major collaborations with artists such as Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Kid, Major Lazer, Torey Lanez, Kojo Funds, Idris Elba, Rotimi, Bebe Rexha and Ed Sheeran. As an artist, he has established himself as an ingenious act, touring places like Dubai UAE, Albania, Sweden, Germany, Israel, various countries within Africa and the Caribbean, and Australia.
It is said that his charm pulls people in, but it is his: raw simplicity, talent, honesty, and consistency that makes him a force to be reckoned with, that keeps fans coming back for more.
His new track (Gal Policy) featuring Tiwa savage has online audiences eating out of his hand. On this track, Kranium displays what separates him from the rest of the pack; his raw lyrics, coupled with a smooth delivery.
The song is available on all digital platforms and is currently blowing up Spotify. Spotify has made Kranium the cover star for their Dancehall Official playlists totaling 902k listeners tuning into the sounds of Caribbean hits.
The video presently has six million views, which has prompted for an official music video to drop soon due to the excitement around the single. On Shazam, “Gal Policy” averages over 1,000 searches daily, and the tune hit number four in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
Kranium averages nearly 350k streams weekly across Spotify and Apple Music alone and is proving to be a certified summer hit. “Gal Policy” was recently added to the mix show list at Hot 97 and is likely to do the same in other cities very soon.
Toronto Caribbean Newspaper linked up with the man of the hour himself Kranium to get the scoop on: how he does things (in a Dancehall style), what the future holds musically, and a day in the life of Mr. (Gal Policy) himself.
“I just think it is my realness,” Kranium begins, “You know the realness of the music and how melodic it sounds. I will say the craziest things with the nicest melodies.”
“When composing what comes to mind?” I asked Kranium “Experiences and relationships. I like to be the artist that sings about relationships, because I feel like there is a lot of things that happen in a relationship that people are afraid to tackle and talk about.”
When asked about his raw lyrics, Kranium told me, “I don’t condone cheating; I am no different from a cigarette box,” he said, “Which tells you smoking kills, yet, it holds the cigarettes. I will give you the product, but that does not mean I take part in it.”
His advice to younger upcoming artists is very simple, “Just be yourself and don’t listen to what other people think. You must think about what you feel is right, take advice and listen a lot. If you don’t listen, it is gonna cost you in the long run.”
Kranium said, he feels good about the chart progress of his new song (Gal Policy). “I feel like I always put out good music, even though it is raunchy or rude or whatever they want to class it. I feel like I always find the thin line between being raw and being organic and melodic. I feel like quality beats all.”
This Dancehall artist said, “People always wonder why I don’t drop many songs. If you think about it, I drop two or three songs per year, and that boils down to the fact that I give a song time to marinade and get into people’s head, so they can love and share it before I move on.”
Kranium told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “In Dancehall there are two types of artists: the lyricist, and the storyteller. I love history so I am the storyteller.”
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