Brush1Chromatic Talks Versatility And His Debut EP ‘I Am The Road Marshal’
Influencer, brand ambassador, marketer, MC; it’s hard to pin down Romario White aka Brush1Chromatic’s dynamic skill set. There’s no denying though that he fits the bill of an entertainer, an ever-expanding career that’s years in the making. His upbringing suggests that Brush1 was always being groomed for the limelight: his stepdad owned a sound system, his brother owned a recording studio and his mother never stopped supporting her son’s dreams. The youngster learned early, however, that success lies outside one’s comfort zone.
“It’s a thing when you grow up in a community and dem done have a perception of you, it kinda hard fi convince dem you ah somn else,” he told DancehallMag. “The plan from morning was to record and release music [though].”
While attending Titchfield High School, a friend named Kenny kept him keen on selecting, the basics of which he’d already secured from his stepdad.
But it wasn’t until he moved to Kingston and MC’ed his first event (Butcher’s Wet Fete) to rave reactions that he really homed in on his mic skills and stage presence. “Mi start do mi research pon it, start build mi voice and try out different slangs and my voice became my main thing,” he stated. This led to voice-overs and eventually artists started calling for his high-octane antics on their tracks. Fast forward to 2021, a year he’s stayed busy despite the bleak global outlook, with everything from TikTok to travel vlogging with more on the horizon.
“Ah really di pandemic show mi seh fi be successful, yuh haffi be fluid, but everything that I’m doing now, it was all pre-planned,” he said.
By all indications 2022 will be Brush1’s best year yet as the tastemaker gears up to drop his debut EP, I Am The Road Marshal. Though no date has been set for its release, the EP follows a string of singles including the wildly successful Kemar Highcon & Kacique collaboration, Doukie Bounce. Add to that the strides he’s made in soca, from hosting gigs in Grand Cayman and chipping down the road in Trinidad to dropping a banger called Pile & Drive this year despite Carnival’s cancellation.
And Brush1 is far from finished — the zippy media personality also just landed his first radio deejay stint at Fyah 105.
In what seems to be a rare occasion, Brush1Chromatic sat down with DancehallMag to discuss his upcoming EP, the direction of the region’s music and the highs and lows of being an influencer.
Your journey from selector to MC to radio deejay is impressive. Now you’re ready to release your debut EP I Am The Road Marshal. Will it be a mostly outdoor, party vibe as the title suggests or can we expect a spectrum of sounds since you also do soca music?
For this project I’m not gonna put any soca on it and I’m doing that intentionally. I want to shift the perception of the name ‘road marshal’ from just soca. This is my brand, this is who I am, but I’m so much more than just soca. I released a song called Inna Mi Zone some months ago and people were saying it’s different than my regular upbeat, high energy, they can sit and think on what I’m saying.
With this project I’m giving that same type of energy: something relatable, something real. We nuh waan mek it too down, too sappy or too serious so we definitely ah put some party vibes inna it. We have soca we plan fi release, somn fi di ladies dem but not on the EP.
How did you find making an album? Did you struggle with the process or was it an exciting experience?
It was a learning process more than anything else because through making the music I was learning about myself and sharing the lessons I’ve learned through the songs. Things mi woulda bottle up from long time and never talk, mi talk about it now because it’s part of the healing process. The actual recording of the songs, making di riddims, that was the easy part, secondhand, cause we been doing this. The content, learning about myself and then using that to make the music was the biggest part of the journey.
You’re a part of two different crews, Chromatic and KaboomNation, that believe, as you put it, “entertainment is not just a performance but a lifestyle”. What’s the best part of being in each?
With Chromatic, it’s more the fast life, first-class flights and touring. With Kaboom, I would say it’s more family. We ah link up fi ah drink, cook some food together, we jus a vibe, we jus a reason and throw ideas around. One is very fast-paced and the other is more grounded.
You’re from humble environs in Portland but now have footprints as far as Canada where you hosted the OneLoveFestival. Is Brush1 a country yute or ‘road marshal’ at heart though?
I would say a little bit of both. Even the way the road marshal operates, is very country yute style. Di same riverside vibes with a group of friends is di same energy whenever we go to these places inna di world to perform. The only thing weh change is we talk to the audience a certain way to relate to where we are in the world and dem can connect wid we more.
One cannot exist without the other. We need di country yute and di country elements so that the road marshal can be the road marshal.
You place reading high on your “self care” list. What’s one book you’d recommend to a fan or follower and why?
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills. It goes for everyone, but mi woulda recommend this for young men especially, because fi change the society we need fi change the young men. It was one of the books I was reading when I made the EP, which is why I said [the process] was a lot of learning and reflection.
You’re a soca tastemaker, seasoned dancehall selector and now a recording artist. Where do you see the region’s music heading a few years from now, esp. with the success of subgenres like Afrobeats, tropical house and urbano?
As it stands right now internationally, it’s still Shaggy, Sean Paul, Shabba and Buju that they recognize as dancehall and reggae. In the region we see the content getting rougher and more rigid. We ah go see a complete shift in the type of music consumed in the region and the kind of music that’s being consumed globally from the region. Based on what I see happening globally now there’s a certain sound — Koffee’s West Indies or Lockdown and Shenseea & Kerwin Du Bois’ Can You Feel It, all of those songs can give you a perfect idea. The acts that will go global from the region, that’s the sound that they will have to adapt to, or something similar.
That’s what’s gonna happen on the global market and in the region, it’s just gonna be more of what we’re seeing now. The young guys coming up now are expressing themselves how they think they should, and dem not looking to Shabba or Tarrus Riley, they’re looking at who’s hot now. So we’re gonna see a lot more of that. Eventually it has to shift, but not right, right now.
Your brand is unique and you’re as much an influencer as you are one of the people. Even though it’s the best of both worlds, what do you love and hate most about what you do?
What I love most is the ability it gives me to change somebody’s whole day. Somebody can be having the worst day and my song, or one of my TikToks is the thing that makes them smile, laugh or pull a conversation out of them and makes them decompress. I love that I have the ability to do that.
What I hate is the perceptions that come with what I do. Him have a bag a money, have couple millions a hide, from him ah deejay him muss a give him woman bun. People ah go always talk, people ah go always think wah dem think. 98% of the time I’m good with it and it doh bother me. And some days it’s just too much.
Since joining Chromatic you’ve visited over 10 countries. Where’s the next place that you can’t wait to touch down?
Africa! Mi did actually supposed to go Africa and Corona mash it up. I been dying to go to Africa! Just for the experience to see what it’s like and mi can have mi own understanding because mi nuh feel like weh dem ah show mi pon tv ah really Africa.
You were once a bartender. What’s another fact fans would be surprised to learn about Brush1Chromatic?
(laughs) I was once a bartender, I was once a conductor, I used to work at a tyre shop. I used to be a pump attendant too. Probably mi serve somebody who is now a fan and dem n’even remember! (laughs)
You recently added vlogs and comedic skits to your social media content. What’s one movie or series that you never get tired of watching?
For the movie, Jumper. Mi just love it because mi love di superpower, once you’ve been somewhere before, you just think bout it an yuh reach. Series would have to be Vampire Diaries. I remember a man seh to me ‘yah man dawg, you nuh fi ah watch dem ting deh.’ I actually rebelled against it and said ‘unnu stupid cause it’s just a show and I like this show.’ It’s one of the first times mi ever rebel against the toxic masculinity so to speak; not because mi watch it means I’m less of a man or whatever. So that’s one of the reasons why it mean so much to me.
What do you hope fans take away from I Am The Road Marshal?
To see me in a different light, that ’The Road Marshal’ is more than just a hypeman or soca music. We can get real wid it, we can go inna we feelings. And I hope also some dem tek di time fi listen and understand some of the gems weh mi drop and see me as more than just a ball of energy.