Ricky Blaze

Ricky Blaze, a Brooklyn-born producer and vocalist, first made waves in Jamaican dancehall after linking with Gyptian to craft the singer’s breakout single “Hold You.” While still a teenager he circulated one of his own riddims through the scene, which Ding Dong quickly adopted for the 2006 dancehall anthem “Badman Forward, Badman Pull Up.” His profile surged in 2010 when Gyptian selected another Blaze beat and transformed it into the international smash “Hold Yuh,” later retitled “Hold You.” Blaze recycled the same riddim for his own 2010 release “You and I,” then followed it that year with “Feel Free,” featuring Nicki Minaj and later a remix that added Diplomats member Jim Jones. In 2011 he contributed vocals to Major Lazer’s Diplo-led single “Keep It Goin’ Louder” alongside Nina Sky, while simultaneously issuing his debut solo project, the Atlantic Records EP My Name Is Ricky Blaze. He next dropped the Crash the Party EP on Fool’s Gold Records in 2012, appeared with Jim Jones on the 2013 We Own the Night EP, and in 2014 issued the Ultra single “Take Ya Money” with Chelley. The 2016 solo track “Look” preceded the mixtape Conquer the Moment, which yielded the follow-up single “Apart” featuring Alexus Rose.