Fortunate Youth

Fortunate Youth came together after veterans from assorted prior groups decided to part ways with those outfits, drawing chiefly from the Rude Boy Roots crew and other South Bay reggae regulars who had been turning up at open-mike nights in Hermosa Beach. Their official introduction arrived in 2010 through the Up-Lifted EP, with the suitably named debut album Irie State of Mind appearing the next year. It's All a Jam reached listeners in 2013 and ascended to the top position on Billboard's reggae charts. Once the opening volume of their Dub Collections series was out, the group delivered Don't Think Twice, which carried guest appearances by the Green, Marlon "Ganja Farmer" Asher, and the Expanders. Love Is the Most High arrived the year after that. In 2017 the band issued a self-titled LP containing contributions from Slightly Stoopid vocalist Kyle McDonald on "Irie State" and Kumar Bent on "Dial My Number".