LOCAL singer, Juke Ross has landed a signing with major US record label, Republic Records, whose roster boasts the likes of Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd.

It all hit a high for Ross, real name Hubert Norville, with the release of his spine tingling debut single, “Colour Me”, which had Guyanese near and far just anxious for more sounds of the former Brickdam Secondary and Queen’s College student.
With this signing, he’s definitely poised to give them just what they’ve been asking for, and then some. The 23-year-old is still just taking it all in.
“I felt excited that my music in its current state was assigned value by the Number One label in the world, and would be given the proper platform to reach millions,” the soul singer shared with The Buzz.
Ross seems very pleased with the arrangement he has with Republic, which he doesn’t think will stifle his creative freedom.
“I’m relieved that I didn’t have to change in any way to make it more commercial,” he said. “I felt compelled to make music of equal depth and flow, while at the same time exploring all the themes I had in mind. The freedom to create and make a decent living came at the right time.”
Since around the early 1990s, Republic Records has been a subsidiary of the global music corporation, Universal Music Group, which is considered one of the “Big Three” record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group.
Ross’s “Colour Me” single, which has reportedly been downloaded over one million times on Spotify, was already featured as part of Republic Records “#NewMusicFriday” listing, which also included “Stony Hill” by Damian Marley.
Ross, who takes inspiration from singers like Matt Corby, Adele and Kygo, had his fame exponentially expanded early last year following the release of “Colour me”, a song that has been described in some quarters as “beautiful lyrics, coupled with angelic vocals and an instrumental which plucks at the strings of the soul”.
He also has another single, “Home”, which he wrote for last year’s 50th Independence Anniversary Jubilee celebrations. One patriotic fellow, Juke also produced a cover version of Dave Martins’ “Not a Blade O’ Grass”.