Reggae Roast are really proud to be working with one of the biggest artists in the UK Music scene right now. He’s a smart and witty lyricist with incredible versatility who can easily ride any type of riddim from Roots to Dancehall to Jungle and Drum & Bass. We are talking about none other than the Mighty Mr. Williamz!

He has recorded and performed with the likes of Chronixx, Damian Marley and Major Lazer and even made his acting debut in the movie “Yardie”, directed by Idris Elba. Mr. Williamz has cemented himself at the forefront of UK culture with ongoing collaborations with D&B pioneer Shy FX, with their most recent collab, the 'Rudeboy Design Soundtape', named BBC 6 Music Album of the Year.

With over 20 million Spotify streams in 2024 alone and collaborations featuring Shy FX, Becky Hill, and Ms. Dynamite, Mr. Williamz continues to push boundaries across genres.

We sat down for a chat with Mr. WIlliamz to find out more about his story.

Listen to the interview in full here: 

Mr. Williamz grew up in a small village in the parish of St. Mary’s in Jamaica where he was immersed in Soundsystem culture from a young age, hearing his father playing the likes of Bob Marley, Big Youth and Dennis Brown. 

The area where Mr. Williamz grew up was a very religious community and not all young people were allowed to attend the dance put on by the local soundsystems. But Mr.Williamz recalls his father was somewhat of a "free spirit" and actively encouraged him to go to the local dances. In fact, it was his father who first prompted him to pick up a mic and perform in front of a crowd for the very first time at the tender age of 8. 

At those times children were only allowed at the early part of the session and on this particular night, the local sound had organised a talent competition. The young Mr. Williamz was surprised when his father turned to him and said “Yo, get up there and touch the microphone, just do the lickle ting you ah do in a di house.” referring to the rhymes he’d heard his son reciting at home.

That moment would change the course of his life as he got up on stage and grabbed the mic, chat his lyrics, and won the competition! This gave him the confidence to start taking his lyricism seriously. So for his ninth birthday, he asked his Mum to get him a little cassette recorder with a microphone which he used to do some of his earliest recordings.

Some of his biggest inspirations in the early days were artists like Yellowman, Shabba Ranks, Ninjaman and Supercat, whose influence can most definitely be heard in Mr. Williamz’s MC style. He grew up listening to Yard Tapes from soundsystems like Silverhawk and RoadStar, these were recordings of the live sessions that would do the rounds amongst fans featuring the kinds of songs and “slackness” lyrics that would not be played on the radio.

Mr. Williamz credits Ninjaman’s ‘Hortical Don’ as one of his most memorable early influences and a song that was specifically for the dancehall and not the radio. Having said that though, the songs that did make it onto the radio also had a significant impact on him, most notably Supercat’s ‘Boops’. He also notes the impact that the ‘Wild Apache’ remix of Supercat’s ‘Mud Up’ had on him. The track featured an instrumental cut of the riddim with Hip-Hop style scratching on it, which was something he’d never heard before- it’s clear to see that even in the early days, Mr. Williamz had a fascination with musical innovation. 

This forward-thinking attitude has undoubtedly contributed towards the kind of work Mr. Williamz has been putting out recently, particularly his recent collaborations with Jungle and Drum & Bass pioneer Shy FX. Stylistically the duo are a perfect match; forward-thinking innovators with a clear love and respect for the history of soundsystem culture. “Basically everything starts with the soundsystem” says Mr. Williamz, “and at the same time you’re listening to the new slang, the new talk, the new sound. Listening to everything and sticking to what I know at the same time, creating a blend or balance, but we na wan stray far from the thing that draw we to the music in the first place, which was the raw vibe, the raw DJ vibe.” 

And the raw DJ vibe is most certainly what he brings, indeed his skills have been recognised by all manner of legends in Reggae and Dancehall. Mr. Williamz recounts one of his career highlights being the time he saw the Marley brothers doing some “knee high skanking” to his tunes while he was performing alongside Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley himself who praised him for his lyricism.

But one of the biggest personal highlights of his career so far was during one of King Jammy’s sets; it was early in the night and Jammy was just running some dubs, Mr. Williamz recalls “so I start control the mic. I just warm it up and put in some work. Then me feel a energy. Me look over the shoulder of Jammy and me see Supercat. Him took about three steps and reach right up next to me and tek the mic and said: ‘Yoot! I never know another species like me exist pon di eart!“ The two passed the mic back and forth a few times in what felt like a milestone moment for Mr. Williamz, a passing of the torch from one his biggest inspirations. 

With over 20 million Spotify streams in 2024 and a BBC 6 Music Album of the year award on his shelf, Mr Williamz is undoubtedly proving to be one of the most exciting modern Soundsystem artists and Reggae Roast are proud to be collaborating with him. As well as numerous features on our first two albums we’ll be back in the studio and on tour throughout 2025. 

Catch Reggae Roast and Mr. Williamz live at The Reggae Roast House Party on 2nd March 2025 at the Gipsy Queen, Camden.

Tickets and info here: https://reggaeroast.co.uk/blogs/news/new-event-reggae-roast-house-party 

Listen to the interview in full here: