“She’s Royal” by reggae artist Tarrus Riley, released by VP Records, has been certified Silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry. The award was given on Friday, February 16, 2024 with data measured by the Official Charts Company for selling 200,000 copies. The single, released on June 24, 2007, is the Blak Soil artist’s first solo Silver certification.
“I just give thanks that we have the gift of music and that we grew up a certain kind of way,” Riley said after WMV had the privilege of informing him about his latest accomplishment.
“I wrote that song from my heart, to make a statement that it doesn’t have to be sexual but to make women feel nice. It’s inspired by the teachings of Rastafari and also by the influence of my mother, my sister, and having close female friends and respect for women. I wanted to describe love in a different kind of way,” he said.
The music video for the third single from his sophomore album, Parables, (after Stay With You, Beware) has surpassed 100 million views on YouTube. Tarrus said he wrote the song because he just wanted women to feel beautiful.
“In a time when everybody feels like you have to be doing all types of things, I was just saying, you are naturally beautiful, not just because of your outside appearance alone. I made the song to stand the test of time when I was writing it, and it is doing so,” he explained.
Ironically, the Dean Frazer-produced song was written during a hurricane in Jamaica.
“Dean Frazer, my mentor, is the producer and I wrote it during Hurricane Ivan. At that time, I didn’t have any breakthrough, and I used music to pass the time during the storm. I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote a song,” Tarrus reflects.
Tarrus’ first UK Silver certification was on July 30, 2021, by way of a feature on Ellie Goulding’s “Powerful,” produced by Major Lazer on the Peace Is The Mission album. That song is also certified Gold in the US for selling 500,000 units.
The Roots Reggae Artis encourages new artist to make music that last the test of time. In 2012, Jamaica’s former Prime Minister Edward Seaga listed She’s Royal as one of the best reggae songs of all time saying,“I’m partial to beautiful melodies, so I’ve to say She’s Royal by Tarrus Riley and Jimmy Cliff’s The Harder They Come.”
