Randy Valentine

Versatile singer / songwriter/ producer RONALD JUNIOR FRITZ (aka RANDY VALENTINE) hails from country sides of Clarendon in Jamaica. As a child growing up he was heavily influenced by his father’s love for music, which was expressed mostly via a sound system that his father owned called SHINING STAR SOUND.

 

He started off his music career in 2005 (2 years after emigrating with his family to the UK) as a local DJ, where he used to perform in clubs in and out of London which led to him working for two years on a online Radio Station SWITCH 106 where he went by the moniker DJ KWES.

 

In 2008, he started producing with the london-based J.O.A.T production team after meeting KEVIN ABABIO in the corridors of the hospital that he was working in at the time. Several years later (in 2010) they met and joined forces with GARY “RIGA” BURKE (Management) from the Swiss based independent label HEMP HIGHER PRODUCTIONS, in an effort to focus more on RV’s vocal talents and potential career as an artist.

 

RANDY VALENTINE’s career has been growing from strength to strength since the release of his debut mixtape “Bring back the love” in 2012 where he sang over 13 tracks – all built upon STUDIO ONE Riddims, such as “Stalag Riddim”, “Bobby Babylon Riddim”, “Lecturer Riddim” and more… Since then, it has been described by some to be a Reggae Classic.

The official “R-V-LUTION SUMMER TOUR 2013” was one of the biggest reggae tours for a debut reggae artist and saw him perform over 20 shows in more than 10 different European countries.

 

After the success of his first official EP “Break The chain” (HEMP HIGHER PROD 2014), he confirmed his status as one of the leading young reggae artist as the project topped iTunes reggae sales charts in over 9 countries. He has been constantly travelling the world over the past few years, and has accomplished to date:

- 5 European tours (performing at all major reggae festivals including Summerjam, Reggaejam, Reggae Gell and much more….)
- 2 US media tours (including a promotional live performance at SIRIUS XM and HOT 97
- 1 Central American tour
- 1 Australian tour
- 1 UK tour

 

His second EP “Still Pushing” (produced by JOE ARIWA, son of legendary MAD PROFESSOR) was released the following year in 2015, and went straight to the top of the ITunes reggae charts again – confirming that Randy was not a passing sensation and was definitely here to stay.

 

2015 was also the year in which Randy started to explore different genres of music, as he featured on MAJOR LAZER’s EP: “Peace is the mission” (No1 on Billboard Dance / Electronic albums), and also collaborated on one of the most talked about musical projects of the year: WU TANG’s unique album copy of “Once upon a time in Shaolin”.

 

His latest project is a 19 track mixtape entitled “RADIO MUSIC” (which is similar in concept to his debut mixtape) recorded over a series of classic hip-hop instrumentals mostly from the late 90’s (often considered one of the “golden ages” of Hip-Hop). When asked why he chose these specific instrumentals his answer was  plainly ”They inspire me to inspire others”.

 

The tape was premiered to the world at the end of January 2016 on BBC1EXTRA by Seanni B. The feedback was astounding.  During summer of last year Randy presented his debut album, before going on tour in Europe and the USA.  It was also round this time that Randy decided to manage himself; he knew that this would mean handling things himself on a business basis, however he would also have creative freedom.  Randy proved up to the challenge.  The ensuing success of such a move has surpassed even - in his own words – “my own expectations”. 

 

Come 2017, Randy has successfully organised an independent promo tour that has stretched across 11 countries. Currently the tour is continuing to great acclaim.