Seven Year Itch, The 8 Year Affair, Ancient Future, A Matter of Time, and In Search of Lost Time, are all time-related named albums. Coincidence? I think not. This is a testament to the intentional art, wordplay, and creativity by the reggae artist Oje Ollivierre, infamously known in the world of reggae as Protoje. King Diggy, another of his aliases, has been among the recent releases with the getaway hit track ‘Hills’ and the mellow ‘Incient Stepping’ followed by an anthem in ‘Family’ with a familiar featured artiste Jesse Royal. With these singles, the Grammy-nominated artiste has announced it is “album season,” referring to an upcoming sixth studio album.
‘Hills’ is the reggae artiste’s first solo release in more than a year and sets the tone for his upcoming album, with his previous releases before the album being no short of spectacular in their own way. Before his debut album in 2011, Protoje released the singles ‘Dread’, ‘JA’ and ‘Roll’, some of which are considered reggae gold to this day. ‘Who Knows’ is one of Diggy’s notorious releases with fellow reggae revolutionary Chronixx, leading to his third studio album ‘Ancient Future’ showing that Protoje knows how to announce an album. The artiste’s most recent album ‘In Search Of Lost Time’ which topped at No. 6 on the charts of Billboard’s Reggae Albums was released in 2020 after the announcement of a deal with RCA Records in the same year.
However, it was at a Pop-Up Party on the roofs of the Sky Gallery, hosted by the artiste where Protoje gave an expected release date to patrons present on his upcoming album. Other than performance and vibing, on the August fourteenth event, King Diggy announced that his album will be available in approximately 5 weeks. On the Carib Voxx calculator, five weeks from that date lands on Sunday, September the eighteenth.
With the growth and transitions in Protoje’s team and music, what do we expect for his sixth studio album? Do we look for features like Lila Ike and Jaz Elise, both part of his stalwart label In.Digg.Nation? Should we expect more international collaborations, as his previous album did? Does the reggae artiste continue his series of time-related album titles? Many questions surround his upcoming project, but Protoje doesn’t disappoint, especially when paired with producer Phillip “Winta” James. James has had a strong presence in the reggae revolution, collaborating with Protoje many times throughout his albums on releases like Blood Money, Protection, Who Knows, and more.
It’s only a matter of time before we see what Protoje has had in hand or brain, album season is upon us.
