Broken Crowns Tour: Talking Story with the Common Kings

Recently had the opportunity to chop it up with the Common Kings as they were on the Broken Crowns Tour with Matisyahu.

Let me first congratulate these guys for getting a Grammy Nomination for Best Reggae Album. It is well deserved and is the first of many!

These down to earth guys have always upped their game every single time I see them. Their musicality and showmanship shows that they are serious about their music and more importantly, how they communicate that to their fans. They're electric on stage. Their charisma off stage exponentially increases in front of the mic, instruments in hand, and under the lights.

I've discussed this before in a previous interview but this time, from the photo pit, they had me slapping the stage and screaming aloud along with their fans. The beauty of the Common Kings is that they have not only cultivated, fostered, and maintained their loyal base of island/ Polynesian reggae fans but they have brought in new fans from different demographics. I found myself singing, "Wade in Your Water," with not only teenagers who could have been my kids but grown men and women who could have been...older cousins (at the least). (Insert smile emoji)

We caught up with stories of each others families, the Broken Crowns Tour with Matis, and what's in store for 2018.

Junyer, Mata, Ivan, and Rome are family men first. All of them are about their loved ones. Focused on their music means focusing on the will to work hard at their craft. This means having to sacrifice being away from their families. Yet it also means that when they spend time with their loves ones, it is a dedication intensified being husbands, fathers, and brothers. It's a beautiful thing to watch them each talk about their families. You can see the determination in their eyes: the Common Kings success, is the success that their families share. Rome summed it up with his family check-in, "My daughter is able to talk to me now." Last time we talked, he had just had a baby girl. The response from his band mates was the most telling. It was the unsaid, look they gave one another stating that all of their personal missions aligned with their collective goal. It's about family.

It is always an honor to chop it up and talk story with the Common Kings. Be on the lookout for what's next for them as 2018 will epic for these guys - as it should be. They deserve it.

Go see them on this tour. It’s worth every penny.

Also, UK Common King fans - Look for them in early 2018 as they tour with with The Wailers!