Photo: James Perry
Major Myjah grew up making various types of music from pop to Hip-Hop/R&B, but he's never felt as connected to his Caribbean roots as he is on his latest record.
The Jamaican-American singer-songwriter recently dropped his latest single "Gyal Code" alongside Davo and producer Crawba Genius. The smooth, bass-heavy banger has Major tapping into the depths of his bloodline as he croons about partying with as many women as possible. Since the record dropped in April, Major teamed up with Davo for the official music video and performed it at several major events including Vybz Kartel's recent show in Miami and at his father Bounty Killer's headlining performance at Reggae Fest in New York City.
"Just being more ingratiated in my heritage and around my people," Major tells iHeartRadio. "It's just a no-brainer for me to be back rooted in where I started. Honestly, I was doing a little bit more of an Afro pop or Afro-Caribbean pop thing when I was younger."
Major Myjah, the son of reggae/dancehall legend Bounty Killer, got his moniker from legendary Jamaican artist Freddie McGregor when he was just a toddler. From there, he began composing music and performing songs alongside the likes of Junior Reid, Ky-Mani Marley, and Ro James until he was a teenager. Despite his Caribbean upbringing and being surrounded by music from Miami's Hip-Hop heavy hitters, Major's early music was inspired by icons like The Beatles and Soundgarden. He lived with his musical family between Jamaica and Miami for most of his life before migrating to other cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta — which is where he embraced his passion for R&B.
2017 was a turning point in Major's career. He appeared on "Upholstery" from Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley's Stony Hill album, which won Best Reggae Album at the 60th Grammy Awards. A few months later, he helped write the intro to Chris Brown's Heartbreak on a Full Moon. He continued to contribute to other hits by Breezy, including "Red Flags" off his 11:11 deluxe album and his 2023 anthem "Summer Too Hot." The bouncy, mid-tempo track earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance. He continued to lend his pen to stars like 2 Chainz, Miguel and Usher, who recruited him to write three songs for his 2018 "A" album with Zaytoven.
Over the past year, Major Myjah has been focused on releasing his own music. He previously released three major records, "By Your Side," "Trying" and "Exes" through his previous deal with Roc Nation. "Exes" opens with a sample of Super Cat and The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Dolly My Baby." With "Gyal Code" currently in rotation, Major plans to drop more prominent collaborations this year as well as a brand-new project. During our chat, Major talks about his upcoming music, performing with his dad, and plenty more. Check out our conversation below.
iHR: You got your start in the music industry when you were just a kid composing records and performing. How does it feel to reach this level of your career so many years later?
MM: I feel like people who've been in the entertainment or music industry for a very long time get burnt out. So it definitely feels like an accomplishment to still have the drive and to be inspired and to find new ways to tell this story, because I feel like I've been doing it for a long time, but I feel like the general public or general population doesn't really know my name yet. I'm not a household artist yet, which is kind of my biggest goal. It is kind of funny reinterpreting the same story as if you're just now beginning the story
That's true. It's been 10 years since you dropped your first project Trouble, and you've accomplished so much and worked with numerous artists. Which artist would you say had an impact on your career early other than your dad?
It's funny because I feel like my dad's impact on my career is actually late, honestly, really not late in the sense of my dad's always loved my music and always embraced it, but I feel like I never embraced dancehall and the roots and my actual heritage for such a long time because I was so caught up in playing guitar and listening to The Beatles. Shout out to some key artists because I feel like they really made our heritage super cool again in a way. I feel like I'm a student of that school where I come back around to my heritage and understand how much it means to me and how rooted I actually am in it. I don't think I ever realized, when I go home and when I'm at a Caribbean party, how much I'm into it until now. I feel like I'm just now starting to perceive that.
Aside from that, there are different people who had an impact on me musically, but then also career-wise like working with James Fauntleroy was super huge for me because I feel like it accelerated my development. Being able to sit in the studio and watch him work and get tips and pointers and stuff like that. I feel like a lot of people might not know this, but Fred Durst was super interested in me early. When I lived in L.A., he flew me to Miami. We met with Lil Wayne and all this random stuff that people won't know because it's not like Limp Bizkit was my holy grail of music, but it's just working and making connections and meeting people. You find different people that believe in the talent and stuff like that. So he helped me in LA a lot. You know what I'm saying? With different people knowing my name and different people getting tapped into what I'm doing. So it's a lot of different people, Chris Brown, Usher, Miguel, all of those different experiences were super developmental to me for sure.
You started off the year performing with your dad in Jamaica. How was that experience performing with him?
As I said before, we've always had a cool relationship. He's brought me on stage plenty of times before and I think that's just more so me a personal journey of me finding dance hall and finding my heritage musically. But as far as my dad and performing with him, it is always fun because I feel like it's way more sporadic with my dad it's like alright, cool. I know he's about to do a show. I know I'm going to be in Jamaica. I got a single out so he's for sure going to bring me on stage, but I just have no clue when at what time because this show might say 10:00 PM and then he doesn't go on until 2:00 AM. I feel like it's a great practice for me, especially in the dance hall world because it's new for me with those crowds and they're very, very different. Dancehall is a whole different type of show than the typical R&B or pop or whatever show. So it's dope. I'm embracing it. I'm excited.
I feel like you had a similar experience when you did the Vybz Kartel show. It was his first time in Miami performing in a long time so being on stage with him must've been a historic moment for you.
It's crazy because I met Vybz one other time prior to that moment and I didn't talk to him at all before I got on that stage like me verbally speaking to him. But for one I could tell the love that he has for my dad just by being on stage and him even having that love and paying it forward and having that respect to bring me out is super love. He does not have to do that. I really appreciate that. But it's crazy because he would say he's one of my dad's sons like his musical sons. I'm his actual flesh and blood who also does music. So I feel like that energy just kind of creates something magical in general on the stage. I really can't even explain it. I was focused on the crowd, but I feel like I felt like a kid in a candy store and I think Kartel looks at it like 'Damn to look at all the years that they've been putting in and to see the offspring has this in his soul too. I feel like it was just really dope.
It seems like all of those artists truly made an impact on you. You earned your first Grammy for Best Reggae Album after appearing on Damien Marley's 'Stony Hill' and were nominated for Best R&B Performance for your work on Chris Brown's "Summer Too Hot." That's a huge accomplishment. How did you feel when you found out you won your first Grammy?
I didn't know. So I was sitting down eating lunch with some friends and my sister called me. She's like, 'Congratulations!' I'm like, congrats on what? I thought I'd seen all the nominations and all this stuff, but I guess they hadn't aired the Caribbean award for that. So she was like, 'You won." And so I was like, 'Oh s**t.' It was kind of a surreal moment. I was like, wow, dope. Shout out to my pops and shout out to Damien Marley for putting me on that song. It was so random. We were just in Miami in the studio, and he was like, 'Yo, go in the booth.' And I end up on the album. So that's a beautiful thing, something I was really blessed with early, honestly.
I feel like your blessings are continuing, man. After dropping your first three singles via Roc Nation, now you're focused on your next project. You just dropped your first single of the year "Gyal Code." Can we expect more of that this summer?
A lot more. A couple features. Me and Steflon Don got something. I feel like the world's been waiting on me and my dad to do something together. I mean, we got some stuff, but it's just timing and just wanting that to be right. And then also me and Vybz been talking about doing something.
With all that, there's got to be a project in the works. Is there anything you could tell us about it?
I think so. The title of my next project is probably going to be Meanwhile or In The Meantime. It's subject to what we go through as artists. This love-hate relationship we have with our business and our creative. I'm always talking to the ladies. So you're going to find that it is going to be a lot about love, but I feel like I'm just encapsulating my relationship with my music, with the relationship I have with the women in my life. I definitely am excited to give the people a body of work that I'm proud of and that embodies and encapsulates my vision.