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The Kenyan Reggae Artist Turning Life's Struggles into Songs of Hope By Zionya | Reggae Hour Podcast Every meaningful reggae story begins long before the first song is written. Sometimes it begins with hard work. Sometimes it begins with disappointment. And sometimes it begins with a person refusing to allow life's setbacks to become the final chapter of their story. That is what makes the journey of Bismart Official , also known as Bismart Kenya , so compelling. Known off stage as Renson Bosco , he represents a generation of African artists who understand that reggae is more than entertainment. It is a language of hope, resilience, reflection, and community. His story is not built around fame or flashy headlines. Instead, it is rooted in discipline, perseverance, honest work, and the courage to begin again after life takes an unexpected turn. For listeners searching for music that carries both heart and purpose, Bismart Official is building a path that deser...
Steve Tulloch After Studio One: Why the Reggae Veteran Says “Love Is the Only Way"
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From foundation reggae to the digital age, Steve Tulloch continues to put message before hype.
Steve Tulloch After Studio One: The Reggae Veteran on Ownership, the Next Generation and Why Love Is the Only Way
Our first Steve Tulloch feature introduced the Kingston 13 artist, his Studio One
foundation and the conscious message behind Belly Want Food. Then we sat
down with him. What followed revealed something deeper: the experiences, principles
and concerns that still drive the man behind the music.
In our earlier Reggae Hour profile, we traced Steve Tulloch’s journey from Kingston 13
through Studio One, Ghetto Life and Belly Want Food. We explored
an artist who believes reggae should educate, uplift and speak directly to the realities
facing ordinary people.
But biography can only take you so far.
An interview allows the person inside the biography to step forward.
And when Tulloch joined Reggae Hour, the conversation quickly became about much more
than records. We talked about where talent begins, the pressure of being young inside
a serious studio, the economics of streaming, what younger artists need to understand
about reggae’s foundation, and the values he wants his music to leave behind.
If the first article explained who Steve Tulloch is, this is the
next chapter: what Steve Tulloch believes.
Before the Studio, Someone Had to Recognize the Gift
One of the most revealing moments in our conversation came before we ever reached
Studio One.
Asked where his musical journey really began, Tulloch pointed toward home. His
stepmother loved the arts, and that exposure helped him recognize something already
inside himself.
He remembers Christmas morning concerts and an environment where performance was not
some distant world reserved for celebrities. The arts were present. Music was visible.
Expression was something a young person could participate in.
Tulloch described his ability as an inborn talent, while crediting his stepmother
with helping him take ownership of it.
“It’s like an inborn talent... my stepmother helped me to own the talent.”
There is something important inside that statement for every young creative person.
Talent may arrive naturally. Believing that the talent deserves development often
requires somebody else to see it first.
Promotional illustration inspired by Tulloch’s memories of entering the Studio One environment.
Studio One Was Where Confidence Had to Catch Up with Talent
In Part One, we established Tulloch’s connection to Studio One. The interview
revealed what that experience actually felt like from his side of the microphone.
He remembered being asked to work on background vocals and harmonies associated
with Johnny Osbourne. But underneath the opportunity was a problem he did not advertise
at the time: he was not yet confident arranging harmonies.
Imagine being young, standing inside a serious Jamaican recording environment, and
realizing that the room expects you to know how to deliver something you are still
learning.
Tulloch did not leave.
He did not tell himself he needed another year before he was ready.
He worked.
“I had no idea how to do harmonies... but at that time, you know, I had to show my class.”
That memory adds another dimension to Tulloch’s Studio One history. It was not only
a place where he sang. It was a place where opportunity demanded growth in real time.
He also remembers what the experience did for his sense of self. Being recognized,
working in that environment and receiving encouragement about his voice gave him
something that remains difficult to measure on a chart: a sense that he belonged.
Reggae Still Has to Come Back to the People
Tulloch’s music has always been associated with social message, but the interview
clarified where that message comes from.
Life itself is his source material.
What happens in the community. What happens outside the community. What families
endure. What working people face. What the world is becoming.
To Tulloch, these experiences are an education. The artist observes them, absorbs
them and turns them into something that can travel.
Tulloch sees reggae as music that remains connected to community experience and human dignity.
That is why words like oppressed, downtrodden,
equal rights and justice sit so naturally inside
the conversation.
Conscious reggae, in this understanding, is not valuable simply because it sounds
like an earlier generation of roots music. It is valuable when it remains useful to
people.
It should help listeners understand what they are seeing around them. It should
motivate. It should preserve dignity. And sometimes, when people feel invisible,
it should simply confirm that somebody else sees what they are going through.
Then Came the Digital Revolution — and a Complicated Kind of Freedom
Tulloch has lived long enough in the business to remember when music ownership
felt physical.
Records were pressed. Records were carried. Records were sold. The exchange between
music and money could be seen and touched.
Streaming changed that relationship.
Tulloch does not dismiss the digital era. In fact, he recognizes one of its greatest
advantages: reach.
An independent artist can now release a song and potentially reach listeners across
continents without first building a traditional physical-distribution network.
But greater reach creates another question.
Who controls the economic relationship?
Promotional illustration reflecting Tulloch’s discussion of vinyl, streaming and artist control.
His Answer to Young Artists: Build Something of Your Own
Tulloch’s concern is not that artists should abandon streaming platforms. His own
future releases are intended for the major digital services.
His larger point is about dependence.
If another company owns the platform, defines the payment structure and controls
the relationship with the audience, the artist may have global visibility without
having the level of control that previous generations associated with selling their
own product.
His advice was straightforward: artists should think seriously about creating their
own platforms and developing ways to sell music directly.
That idea becomes even more powerful when combined with the other advice he offered
younger musicians.
“The most important thing... is discipline, consistency... you have to be confident also.”
It is easy to talk about independence. Independence only works when the person
demanding control is prepared to do the work that control requires.
Discipline. Consistency. Confidence.
Those are not glamorous words. But they may be more useful to an emerging artist
than another promise of overnight success.
You Cannot Protect Reggae’s Future If You Do Not Know Its Foundation
Tulloch’s message to younger reggae artists also carried a cultural warning.
Learn the history.
Know who built the foundation.
Understand what the music represented before deciding how you want to change it.
This is not an argument against evolution. Reggae has always changed. Ska evolved.
Rocksteady evolved. Roots evolved. Dancehall created another vocabulary. Jamaican
music has never survived by standing still.
But innovation without memory creates a different danger: people inherit the sound
while losing sight of why that sound mattered.
Tulloch wants younger artists to research the foundation so they can move forward
from knowledge rather than simply from fashion.
The Next Chapter Is Already Being Recorded
The interview was not only reflective.
Tulloch also gave Reggae Hour an update on the music still ahead.
At the time of our conversation, he said he was developing a
16-track album and had completed approximately
nine tracks.
The project did not yet have a final title.
When asked which song might become the breakout record, Tulloch answered with the
confidence of somebody who does not believe in recording filler:
all of them.
The direction remains consistent with the Steve Tulloch introduced in our first
feature. The new material is being built around real-world issues, while also leaving
space for lovers rock.
That balance matters.
Human beings do not live only inside struggle. They fall in love. They build families.
They celebrate. They hurt. They repair. They hope.
Reggae has always had room for the whole person.
Stream and Support Steve Tulloch
While the next chapter develops, listeners can support Steve directly across his
official music destinations.
After Everything He Has Seen, Tulloch Comes Back to One Word
Toward the end of the conversation, we moved away from technology, promotion and
career strategy.
We asked about legacy.
What should remain after the interviews end, after the next album and after the
statistics attached to a career no longer matter?
Tulloch spoke about simplicity.
He spoke about humanitarianism.
He spoke about equal rights and justice.
And then he reduced the entire philosophy to four words.
Tulloch’s closing message brings his music, worldview and sense of legacy into one idea.
“Love is the only way.”
He contrasted love with war and destruction. His language became deliberately simple:
eat love, drink love, talk love, write love.
In another part of the interview, family entered the same conversation. Respect your
mother. Respect your father. Value the people who stand with you.
These ideas help us hear his music differently.
Belly Want Food is about need. His concern about streaming is about fairness.
His message to younger artists is about responsibility. His belief in reggae is about
giving people strength.
Underneath all of them is the same question:
How should we treat one another?
The Story Did Not End with the First Article
Our first Steve Tulloch feature told the story of a conscious reggae artist from
Kingston 13 whose journey connected Studio One, Ghetto Life and
Belly Want Food.
The interview completed another part of the picture.
We met the young singer who had to learn while the microphone was already on.
We met the veteran watching physical records become digital streams. We met the
independent artist questioning who controls the economics of music. We met the elder
challenging younger musicians to know their foundation.
And behind all of those versions of Steve Tulloch was the same artist introduced in
Part One: somebody who believes reggae still has work to do.
It must remember.
It must speak.
It must uplift.
And according to Tulloch, whatever else the world chooses to build, it will not hold
together for long without love.
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