J Boog

Born in Long Beach, California, and raised primarily in Compton, Jerry Afemata performs under the stage name J Boog and blends reggae with R&B, hip-hop, and rock. His Samoan heritage traces to his father, a neighborhood tribal chief, while his earliest musical spark came from his sister, a singer and pianist. After she acquired a collection of Bob Marley standards, young Boog began singing along; at age nine the siblings delivered a rendition of Whitney Houston’s “One Moment in Time” before two hundred relatives at a family reunion. Immersed in an eclectic mix of classic reggae, West Coast hip-hop, vintage R&B, and a touch of hard rock, he was drawn to reggae’s relaxed demeanor and crisp grooves, penning and tracking his own material during breaks from his refinery job.

A 2005 trip to Hawaii introduced him to singer George “Fiji” Veikoso; Boog handed over a mixtape, and Veikoso recognized his potential. Veikoso produced the 2007 debut Hear Me Roar, which reached the Top Ten on the American reggae charts around the time Boog relocated to Hawaii. In 2008 he began collaborating with Yami Bolo and Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage while establishing a lasting partnership with Wash House Records in Hawaii. After studying reggae’s roots during a Jamaican visit, he issued a self-titled EP in June 2011 and followed three months later with the full-length Backyard Boogie. The set featured the singles “Let Me Know,” “Let’s Do It Again,” and “Sunshine Girl,” topped the U.S. reggae album chart in 2011, and reclaimed the summit in both 2012 and 2013.

A four-track EP, Live Up!, arrived in July 2013, and the 2014 single “Easier,” shared with Anuhea and SOJA, appeared next. Guest spots on projects by Gappy Ranks, Morgan Heritage, and Raging Fyah preceded the March 2016 release of the Rose Petals EP, which served as a prelude to his third album, Wash House Ting, issued that November.