Irie Love Taylor (born July 7, 1982) is an American R&B Reggae singer and songwriter. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the "Brown Bags to Stardom" competition in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

in 1999. She was signed by John Iervolino (one of the judges in the competition) onto his record label,

Quiet Storm Records Quiet Storm Records is a Hawaii-based record label specializing in Hawaiian music. History The label was formed by John and Debra Iervolino in 1992. John Iervolino serves as president. The company has won a Na Hoku Hanohano Award. In 2001, Q ...

. She was featured as the only new artist on his

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

compilation entitled ''Roots Music Volume 2: Private Beach Party'' for which they used her likeness to promote the album.

Early life

Love is of Hawaiian, Jamaican,

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, English, and Native American descent. Her father is a former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and she is a descendant of Robert Love who founded Love's Bakery in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. In 2000, she moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to study Music and Business at

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

Career

In 2002, Love booked a tour as a back-up singer for the artist

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

. She continued as a back-up singer for the next three years singing for such artists as

Dave Hollister David Le Chaine Hollister (born August 17, 1968) is an American singer from Chicago, Illinois who found fame during the 1990s as one quarter of the R&B group Blackstreet, before going on to have a solo career. Hollister is best known for his ...

and

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

. In 2006, she moved to

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

to pursue a solo career in

reggae music Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay", was the first popular song to ...

. She became one of the twelve finalists in the Irie FM

Red Stripe Red Stripe is a 4.7% ABV pale lager brewed by Desnoes & Geddes in Jamaica and the Netherlands. Since 2015 Red Stripe has also been brewed in the United Kingdom by Heineken under licence from Desnoes & Geddes. It was first introduced in 1928 fr ...

Big Break Competition. Love was introduced to the reggae group

Morgan Heritage Morgan Heritage is a Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae band formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan, namely Peter "Peetah" Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy "Gramps" Morgan, Nakhamyah "Lukes" Morgan, and Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan ...

at the East Fest in St. Thomas, Jamaica in December 2006. In April 2007, Morgan Heritage signed Irie Love to their

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

Gedion Music. She immediately began touring the world as their

opening act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

alongside their younger brother Laza. She also sang backup for Morgan Heritage touring the United States, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Europe and the UK. In October 2008, Love released her first EP entitled ''Ehiku''; on October 18, 2008, and threw a launch party for the EP in Waikiki, Hawaii. In January 2009, she released her 1st international album in Japan entitled "The Life of Love". Irie Love has also been featured on several compilation albums such as The Biggest Reggae One-Drop Anthems 2008 and Coconut Island Vol.1 and Unseen Famili Compilation Vol.1, all of which are available on iTunes. Love performed and recorded with her mentors

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is an American record producer. He is most known for producing material for close associates Nas, Amy Winehouse, and Jazmine Sullivan, but has also produced for other mainstream acts including Alicia Key ...

, Lee Francis,

George 'Fiji' Veikoso George Brooks Veikoso (born 10 May 1970), known professionally as Fiji, is a Fijian musician, vocalist, songwriter, music producer and occasional actor. He was born in Fiji and is from the province of Tailevu. He was raised in Fiji. Early life ...

and several other producers for her Hawaiian Reggae album for 2012. Her singles ʻIt Is Wut It Isʻ featuring Fiji and ʻMy Loveʻ, have both charted at No. 1 on the Hawaiian Reggae Charts. Her single ʻIt Is Wut It Isʻ featuring 'Fiji' was also featured on Hawaiian Airlines inflight entertainment.

References

External links

Irie Love
on MySpace {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Irie 1982 births Living people American people of English descent American musicians of Jamaican descent American people of Native Hawaiian descent American people of Dutch descent Native Hawaiian people Azusa Pacific University alumni 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers