Under The Spotlight: Kabaka Pyramid

Grammy-award-winning reggae artist Kabaka Pyramid is currently on tour. We had a look at his incredible career so far.

Skiddle Staff

Date published: 6th Apr 2023

Kabaka Pyramid is a Grammy-winning reggae artist from Kingston. Often fusing reggae and dancehall with hip-hop lyrical delivery, Kabaka Pyramid explores topics of Rastafarianism, oppression, politics, spiritual evolution, and more using a hypnotising sonic profile.

Currently on tour with performances scheduled in Manchester and at Reggae Land, we thought we’d take a look at Kabaka Pyramid’s career so far.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Keron Salmon, known as Kabaka Pyramid, could often be found changing the lyrics to songs, recording them on his mum's tape recorder, and singing his favourite lyrics by Inspectah Deck and Canibus at school.

This was the beginning of what would become his music career, where he would fuse reggae, a genre he always held close to his heart, with hip-hop, the genre that captivated him at a young age.

Fast forward to 2011 and Kabaka Pyramid is releasing his Rebel Music EP, where those influences are more than clear. About the EP he said, “To me, reggae and hip-hop go hand in hand....when they procreate, Rebel Music is born! Some believe that each art form must remain pure… I’m not here to oppose. But fusion is the foodstuff of evolution, and evolution is constant - both physically and spiritually.” This quote further relates to the EP in that spirituality and conscious evolution are recurring lyrical themes.

Kabaka, Ugandan for ‘King’, then went on to collaborate with producers to release hits including Mi Alright, Never Gonna be a Slave, and King Kabaka.

From there, he released the Lead The Way compilation album, which charted on the Reggae Billboard Top 10 and the Accurate Mixtape in 2016. Kabaka then collaborated with Damian Marley on Well Done before the two met again on Kabaka Pyramid’s debut album Kontraband in 2018.

Photo: Kabaka Pyramid / Facebook.com

Kabaka released Victory Rock Riddim in 2021 before his most recent album The Kalling, in 2022, which features yet another two collaboration tracks with Damien Marley. The Kalling saw Kabakka Pyramid take home his first Grammy for Best Reggae Album.

With huge respect from others in reggae and an incredibly prestigious award under his belt, we’re sure we’ll be seeing more of Kabaka Pyramid as he shoots to international fame.

Fancy seeing this award-winning reggae artist live? Scroll to the bottom of this page and secure your tickets to see him in Manchester or at Reggae Land Festival.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.