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Reggae singer Jemere Morgan, joins us to unpack “No Better,” his latest single produced by Damian Marley, and the bigger meaning behind two legacy music families coming together on this riddim project. We talk about how that legacy shapes expectations, why this music feels like a more mature chapter, and how Damien’s production pulls out an R&B-leaning edge while keeping roots reggae at the center.

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She walked away from JP Morgan, a stable paycheck, and the “safe” life to bet on reggae music and built a strong catalog of reggae love songs that continue to find new fans across the globe. We’re joined by singer-songwriter Alaine, and we get into what longevity really looks like when your career is powered by faith, craft, and a refusal to fake it for clout.

We go behind the scenes of her single “Love Again” on the No Better Riddim, produced by Damian “Jr Gong” Marley. Alaine shares the moment she got the WhatsApp invite to be on the riddim and the sting of hearing her first song she wrote wasn’t working. Hearing how she regrouped, found inspiration, and rewrote the song into the version that landed is a valuable lesson in taking feedback to improve. We also touch on sharing the juggling with Jemere Morgan and Pressure, plus a fun and honest turn into relationship green flags, red flags, respect, and the kind of self-forgiveness it takes to be ready to love again.

We talk about evolving over 20 plus years in the reggae industry, meeting the best and worst kinds of people, and learning how to protect your voice while still staying open. Alaine breaks down why intention matters more than virality, how she chooses projects, and what authenticity means when the internet is always asking artists to perform a persona.

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Reggae is one of Jamaica’s greatest cultural exports, but the way we tell its story often leaves women blurred out or pushed into the margins. In this Breadfruit Media crossover episode with Strictly Facts I speak with Alexandria to unpack her dissertation on women in reggae and the questions that drove seven years of research: why are women so often reduced to footnotes, and what does that erase from our understanding of Jamaican music history?

We get specific about power in the reggae industry and what “gendered labour” looks like in real life: who controls rhythms, who collects wealth, and how intimidation around songwriting credit and royalties can shrink a career over time. We also name the hard parts that rarely make it into glossy retrospectives, including sexual harassment, the unequal burden of childcare when industry partnerships become families, and the legal realities of copyright in Jamaica. Along the way, we spotlight the difference between quick recognition and lasting impact, from Sister Nancy’s rare royalties breakthrough to what a moment like Koffee’s Grammy win can and cannot do for women across the genre.

Then we shift into the craft of documenting a history that wasn’t properly filed. Alexandria talks archival research in Kingston, what’s missing from institutional folders, and why oral history interviews with living artists matter. We also explore how women mentor each other across generations, how respectability politics and Rastafari-adjacent norms shape performance and perception, and why today’s wave of women in reggae is best understood through the foundation built by those who came before.

If you care about reggae, women in music, or the business of cultural recognition, press play, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with the name of a woman in reggae you think deserves deeper documentation.

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