French reggae artiste Norrac delivers ‘Wings’

France-based reggae artiste, Norrac, is generating a lot of attention with his latest single, Wings, an easy-going gem of a reggae song exploring spirituality. The single appears on his latest album, New Born.

A music video for Wings was filmed in Trelawny last year by his French camera crew who accompanied him on a visit to Jamaica. The title of the single ties in with the concept of the album.

“New born … meaning a re-birth … [is] also a renaissance of intelligence and the intellectual overstanding of purpose. The full album title is Norrac: New Born,” Norrac mused.

Norrac is not your garden-variety reggae artiste as he ‘moonlights’ as an English teacher living and working in France.

“The life as a Jamaican musician living in France is way much different and in contrast to that of the life of a musician living in Jamaica. Here you still have to hold down a 9 to 5 because there are no luscious hills and valleys loaded with fruits, yam roots or edible wild birds to eat,” he said.

Norrac has noted that the evolution of the reggae music industry has made it harder for reggae musicians to eke out a living owing to the emergence of European reggae musicians, and the changing dynamics of live reggae shows where reggae acts no longer travel with their own bands.

“Many Jamaican artistes come here [to France] alone only to be accompanied onstage by French musicians. So, while I get left out, other Jamaican musicians from Jamaica are too being left out of the game. I am an English teacher teaching associate degrees. I do get by,” he said.

He is currently preparing his 2025 touring dates with his band as he steps up promotion of his New Born album. This album has collaborations from Inity, Smallion Y Nixon Dorce, published under the seal and publishing house Megawave and was recorded at Tuff Gong studios in Jamaica.

“Just be on the lookout for Norrac, we’re going to be making major moves. We have a song with Nikson Dorce, an American rapper, hailing from New York … the title of that song is Love For All. [It is] a song that speaks about empathy,” he said.

The artiste, whose real name is Carron A. J. McGibbon, is an accomplished musician. He has played with artistes such as Bunny Wailer, Toots Hibbert, The Mighty Diamonds, Ijahman Levi, The Gladiators, Roberta Flack, Jeffrey Osborne, Burning Spear and the Marley family, among others.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com