Recording artiste and songwriter Bugle easily stands out in the very crowded dancehall fraternity. With timeless lyrics and songs that play on the emotions of listeners, Bugle’s catalogue is not one that can be easily dismissed.
One of the frontrunners of the DASECA Production label, Bugle’s soulful voice has been on the airwaves since 2007. Born Roy Thompson, he was introduced to music from an early age by his now deceased brother. However, it was in 2000 that would begin his professional journey when he met international dancehall artiste Elephant Man where he would later pen several hits for the self styled “Energy God.”
Said Bugle, “I got my musical exposure touring with Elephant Man. At first I started traveling to the Caribbean and then the United States where I made an appearance on BET’s 106 and Park show, as well as the BET Awards among other places.”
Being the man behind the music, however, was not enough for the ambitious singer who in 2007 was introduced to singer/producer Serani from DASECA. “Serani told me that he wanted to do some work with me, but he didn’t want to give me the idea. So I went out and thought about it and came back with the idea for ‘Exercise’ and the rest is history.”
The socially conscious “Exercise” (What I’m Gonna Do) became a massive hit and topped the charts in Jamaica, New York, South Florida and many other Caribbean countries. The song not only showed off Bugle’s writing abilities but his melodious and deep voice. From there the hits flowed.
Songs including “Doh” featuring Serani, “Love Reigns” featuring reggae singer Tarrus Riley, “What Have I Done to You,” “Journey,” “Supremacy,” “Scotch Bonnet,” “Pearly Gates” and “Summer Break” featuring Chevaughn and Razz and Biggy kept Bugle’s name on the musical radar for an extended period.
Apart from the Daseca production team, Bugle has worked with several producers including TJ Records, Chimney, CR203, Notice, and Frass Records among others.
Performance wise, Bugle has toured Japan, the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. He has performed at some of the biggest reggae music festivals including Jamaica’s Reggae Sumfest and Sting.
Some of his most recent recordings include “There For You” for DJ Frass, “Streets” for Notice Productions, “Loving Memory” for Troyton Music, and “It Mek Yuh Get Richer” on DASECA’s ‘Exodus’ rhythm.
“I have lots of music working on right now, the greatest challenge for me is that because of the fact that I’m doing real deep music, sometimes I don’t get justice but hard work over comes all difficulties so I’ll continue to do good music and work hard.”
Bugle is currently being managed by Daseca and Major Links Entertainment out of the United States.
In the summer of 2012, Bugle released a mix tape entitled Psalms. The project featured 43 tracks and is a journey through the artiste’s decorated career.
Commenting on the mix tape, Bugle said “I think ‘Psalms’ is one of the most informative chapters of the Bible so based on the content of this mix tape, I chose the word Psalms as the title.”
Sean ‘Razz’ Cousley produced the mix tape from the turntable/selecting duo of Razz and Biggy.
Among those who appear on “Psalms” are Dillinger, Etana, Vybrant, Jahmiel, Proppa Fade, Ding Dong, Blak Diamond and Oriel.
In the wake of the mix tape, Bugle has been quite busy working with some of the top producers including TJ Records, Daseca Productions, CR203 Productions, Notice Production, Romeich Records, UIM Records and Frass Records.
Among his recent singles are “Jah Be with You,” “Life Span,” “Only Human Live My Dream,” and “Rave til a Morning.”
