Iyaz
223 580 fans
223 580 fans
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Describing his sound as "island pop", Caribbean singer Iyaz deals in sun-kissed, melodic hooks, strutting hip-hop beats and infectious reggae grooves, coming to prominence with his worldwide hit 'Replay' in 2010.
Born Keidran Jones in the US Virgin Islands, his father was part of a touring vocal group and his mother led church choirs, and he grew up singing with his cousin on the beaches of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, before adopting the nickname Iyaz - meaning 'The Boss' - from his godfather. Jones, his father and his sister all moved over to Rhode Island, USA to study at the New England Institute of Technology and, while there, Iyaz learned audio engineering and digital recording and teamed up with some fellow students to make the track 'Island Girls'. The friends took the group name Young Diction, and when the track took off across the Caribbean, rap producer Sean Kingston was soon making contact with Iyaz through MySpace, helping him to sign a deal with the Beluga Heights record label. With its tropical-electro swagger and breezy, sugar-sweet innocence, his debut single 'Replay' went on to top the UK charts and reach number two in the US and by the end of the year its video had notched up more than 100 million views on YouTube.
Iyaz went on to feature on the re-make of the 'We Are the World' charity single for victims of the Haiti earthquake and duetted with Miley Cyrus on the 'Hannah Montana Forever' movie soundtrack, before his debut album 'Replay' was released with reggae-tinged, summery pop anthems produced by Kingston and J.R. Rotem.
His second single 'Solo' was another success, reaching number three in the UK charts and Iyaz worked with DJ David Guetta on the dance track 'Last Forever' which featured on Demi Lovato's album 'Unbroken'; he also sang on Filipino star Charice's hit 'Pyramid'. There were also collaborations with New Boyz, Mann and Travie McCoy and sold-out international tours, but his second album 'Aurora' was only released in Japan in 2015 and failed to make much of an impact.
