Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Humble

When reggae artiste Humble released his debut album Hard To See, he never imagined after the success of the album that he would be in Jamaica working on his second album with top producers and artistes.

Born Simon Jonathan Vassell in England to Jamaican-born parents, Humble was exposed to music at an early age. Humble moved with his family to Toronto when he was three. It was when he was in college that he explored his love for music. "When I was in college I bought a guitar and I started from there teaching myself the chords" he said.

First big break

So far, Humble's journey has caused him to meet many artistes and people in the music industry. In October 2005, Humble released his debut album titled Hard to See on the Sound Check Records label. The album earned Humble a Juno nomination in 2007, as well as Canadian Reggae Achievement award for Artiste of the Year and Album of the Year.

Humble has opened for many international artistes such as Junior Kelly, popular dub poet Mutabaruka, Tony Rebel, and roots reggae's legendary Abyssinians, to name a few.

According to Humble, it is the release of his album that he considers to be his first big break. He explained: "When I came out with my first album, there was a track, called The Other Side, among others, that (made) people really begin to know who I was. I released that album with a label that was kinda new, so there wasn't a lot of variety on that album as I would have liked to have, but I'm happy with it."

In 2007, Humble became interested in Canadian label Palm of Gold, and it wasn't long before he found himself in Kingston, Jamaica, working on a new project.

Influenced by Dennis Brown, Culture and Coldplay, Humble hopes to bring more roots reggae with an acoustic flavour to his new album, which he plans to distribute in Jamaica first, and then to the rest of the world.

Although this young artiste has achieved a great deal in his career, he sees himself as his name implies, 'humble'. "I'm just a young artiste trying to express an art through music with a message for people to take a look at themselves," he said.

While in Jamaica, Humble is working with producer Diavallan Feraron, who has worked with Junior Gong, among others. Feraron told The STAR: "He's really an extraordinary artiste with a well-trained vocal ability. I'ma person who's picky, but he is assured greatness. He does things from the heart."