Bugle Says He’d Rather Be ‘Underrated Than Overrated’

Dancehall and Reggae may soon see one of its most conscious and talented voices returned to prominence, with a recent announcement indicating that Bugle, the famed ‘Nuh Compatible’ singer, is set to release his fourth studio album in October.

Bugle, whose real name is Roy Thompson, last released an album in 2019 (Picture Perfect), and following the massive success of a number of his singles, fans expected the Portland, Jamaica native to ascend to the ranks of Buju Banton and Sizzla Kalonji – Dancehall and Reggae icons he was compared to – but Bugle was never quite given his due, as he confirmed in a recent interview with The Star.

“The thing wid music is dat when yuh nuh inna di passa passa and the mix-up most a di times,” he shared, “is like yuh nuh exist nuh matter how great your work is. Music itself is like a battlefield. Yuh affi a fight all the time. But I don’t make nothing bother me because mi know me a do weh mi supposed to do. Once me a put in the work, mi make it speak for itself. It has been doing that because my fans know what I am about.”

Further pondering his status in Reggae and Dancehall, Bugle said that there were times he wondered whether his exclusion from certain shows/events by organizers was a personal affront. He told The Star, “When yuh see a show yuh know yuh should be a part of based on the line-up, yuh start to wonder if it’s a personal thing. I have a solid catalogue, mi always a do a great job when it comes to performances; so why am I not on certain shows?”

The My Life singer, however, remains undaunted in his pursuit of musical greatness, despite feeling as though he is constantly underrated – a position he doesn’t seem to quite mind. “I rather be underrated than overrated,” he explained.

Revealing that being underrated is simply a result of people not acknowledging your greatness, while being overrated is a matter of people overestimating your abilities, Bugle believes he is right where he can make the most impact. “When you overrated, yuh nuh have no weh fi go but down because people rate yuh too much and when yuh nuh live up to expectations, dem ago drop yuh. When yuh underrated is because yuh great and people nah gi yuh weh due to yuh. But there is always the chance to earn people’s respect as long as you maintain your standards,” he said.

To that end, Bugle refuses to compromise on his worth, explaining to The Star that whether or not he is ‘hot’, the work he has so far invested in his career is sufficient for him not to be treated any less than those who have reaped similar success.

“If yuh want acknowledge me, yuh acknowledge me, if you don’t want to, yuh alright,” he continued. “Mi acknowledge myself and mi have a solid fan base and das why me nah take less than me deserve, hot or not.”

His coming album, he believes, will further accentuate that value.

WHAT FANS CAN EXPECT

Having never shied away from social issues, fans can expect Bugle to live up to that reputation in the possibly 14-track album, which features heavy hitters such as Bounty Killer, Julian Marley, Jesse Royal, Kabaka Pyramid, Jahmiel, and the up-and-coming talent, Nation Boss.

In an interview with the Jamaica Gleaner, Bugle shared, “The album will be a mixture of everything. I have maybe about 14 songs on the project, and seven of those are reggae, and then the rest is dancehall vibes. But, of course, it will be my kind of dancehall, because we nah go less than the Bugle standard.”

The standard Bugle refers to is heavily based on the comparisons his first album, Anointed, drew in 2014 to Til Shiloh (by Buju Banton) and Da Real Thing (Sizzla Kalonji). Bugle found those comparisons humbling and “unbelievable”, as those two albums represented, for him, the pinnacle of musical creativity and greatness.

He shared in the interview, “… Those two albums are two of the greatest albums from my time and fi hear people mek da comparison deh, it make me kinda put the thing pan a level weh mi can’t drop it, so mi affi always maintain that standard.”

Despite initially intending not to release an album so soon after his 2019 drop, Bugle shared that because of the pandemic, all he had was time in the studio, so he thought, “Why not?”

Now, having commissioned “some of the island’s most talented artistes to voice on the record”, he is anticipating success.

“The album a go wicked… The intro alone a go speak volumes because there is no music, just melodies, and that’s where I have Tony Gold and Adena Myrie, and if you know them, you know they are some extremely talented vocalists. So, with those great voices coming together, it a go set a standard from the get-go,” he relayed to the Gleaner.

The highly anticipated album, set to arrive in October, according to Bugle, “will have something for everyone”.