Xana Romeo

Dub Empress

Photography by: Franck Blanquin

Xana Romeo has emerged in this time as a prolific reggae siren with a powerful and distinctive message that resonates strongly among her generation of revolutionary youth.

Awakening the senses with the contrast of her soothing melodies and energetic instrumentation, Xana flutters soulfully atop cool dub rhythms and electrifies the beat with potent lyrics that energize hearts and minds.

Born Azana Makeda Smith on August 26, 1994, in the historic Kingston community of Greenwich Town, Xana Romeo is a singer in possession of a voice and alluring presence as captivating as her mythical name.

The young reggae siren’s musical education began at a tender age under the keen eyes and ears of her father, veteran Reggae singer Max Romeo, a wise teacher who encouraged his youngest daughter at every step along her natural progression.

“I look up to my dad as an idol in the music business as he’s the one who inspired me to do music for the people”, Xana says. After years of patient development, this child of the music stands poised to share her signature vocal stylings with the world.

Faithfully advancing along her musical path, Xana’s steady rise as a Roots, Dub, and Reggae artiste has been attracting positive attention from music lovers across the globe. Her talents extend beyond singing to also include songwriting and the visual arts. This commitment to multi-dimensional creativity and self-sustainment stems from the example set by her father.

“Given what I know of his substantial musical catalog as well as his way of life, I can say from my heart he lives a life that one can model. His philosophy and ‘livity’ is close to the teachings of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, and this gives inspiration along my own journey.”

Having grown in her musical expression as singer, composer, and arranger, and after years of gaining exposure from touring successfully with her family, Xana Romeo is now ready to share her music and message with all corners of the globe.

“The purpose of my music is the message. When someone listens to Xana Romeo’s songs I want them to feel inspired and motivated to carry out any personal self-cleansing by the renewal of their minds.”

With a stream of impressive live performances and the release of several standout singles over the years including ‘Rate Rasta’, and ‘Righteous Path (Our Father)’, 2016 saw the release of ‘Mercy Please’, the first single from her debut album.

Xana Romeo debut album titled, ‘Wake Up’, invigorates the atmosphere with the undiluted essence of Reggae music at a time when it is most needed. These powerfully delivered messages pulsate from speakers and rest on the heart and mind of the listener.

Release Date: December 9, 2016
Label: Charmax Music
Copyright: 2019 Charmax Music
Total Length: 55:38
Total Tracks: 11
Format: Album
Genre: Dub Reggae

As we observe Xana Romeo’s steady rise from the pool of rich musical talent found in Jamaica, we can see the increasing momentum of her journey as well as the growth of her gift as a storyteller. Her music stands as a testament to the resilience of the divine feminine spirit and the importance of this energy to be shared throughout the world.

There is much to look forward to and many more stories to be told by this enchanting songstress. Journey with her along her musical mission.

Since the release of her debut project, Xana has furthered her works in launching the Xana Romeo Foundation for Young Mothers. Giving back through music, Each year the Xana Romeo Foundation hosts the Wake Up ‘Young Mother’s’ benefit concert under the theme of her album ‘Wake Up’ which aims to raise awareness on Young parenthood and assist disenfranchised young mothers with costly
postnatal care and financial assistance with educational opportunities.

Xana is no stranger to the main stage as she’s frequently featured on major Reggae festivals across the globe.

Together with her bother Azizzi Romeo and their father, Max Romeo, they’re often seen touring together as a family. In 2019, the Romeo Family tour went to countries such as Sweden, France, Israel, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Xana is set to perform at this year’s Uprising Festival in Slovakia; at the No Logo BZH Festival in France and the Ostroda Reggae Festival in Poland.

You can visit Xana Romeo’s  website at Xanaromeomusic.com for more info.

Xana Romeo & ZOOLOOK

For 2020, Xana Romeo aka the Dub Empress has teamed up again with artist, ZOOLOOK, on the next story arc of his award-winning comic book series entitled, Dread & Alive™. ZOOLOOK is working on a 12 chapter comic series entitled ‘Nine Night™’ with the first issue releasing on Halloween 2020. This series precedes issue #1 of Dread & Alive which made its worldwide debut on February 6, 2010.

As ZOOLOOK continues his work on the ‘Nine Night’ series, he will introduce new characters to the series as well as characters who have already appeared in the Dread & Alive series. For example, the investigative reporter, Casey Forrester, and Gryphon the Hunter, who both appear in issue #1 of Dread & Alive, will actually make their first appearance in Dread & Alive: Nine Night.

“It feels great to be a part of the Dread & Alive series which represent our Jamaican culture and covers different Jamaican experiences. I’m happy that I was selected to portray Brandy Savage in the upcoming comic book series, Nine Night. There is a lot about Brandy that reminds me of myself.”

XANA ROMEO, DUB EMPRESS

Back in the summer of 2015, Xana Romeo invited ZOOLOOK to create the original cover artwork for her single, ‘Rate Rasta’, which released on August 07, 2015. ‘Rate Rasta’ speaks about the lack of respect and denial that is given to Rasta across the globe. As the lyrics state, “Them gwan like them nuh rate Rasta, discriminate Rasta, yes them underrate Rasta. Emperor Selassie a him I master” it’s easy to paint an image of the attitude they give towards Rastas on a daily basis. Xana Romeo wrote the song from her personal experience as her son was getting ill-treated at school by his Christian teacher all because he had dreads and came from a Rasta Household.”

“I feel that Xana Romeo and I are kindred spirits.
We are not afraid to speak the truth through our work.
We know that everything is not ‘IRIE’ in the world.”

NICHOLAS DA SILVA, ZOOLOOK

Xana Romeo and ZOOLOOK plan to work together on an original dub reggae track for Nine Night which will be included in the Dread & Alive soundtrack series. Until then, ZOOLOOK invites you to discover the world of Dread & Alive by visiting the official website for the series at https://www.dreadandalive.com.

Release Date: August 7, 2015
Label: Charmax Music
Copyright: 2019 Charmax Music
Total Length: 8:58
Total Tracks: 2
Format: Single + Dub Version
Genre: Dub Reggae

Official Website:

XanaRomeoMusic.com

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