ENTITY · PERSON (ARTIST, SELECTOR, PRODUCER…)
Chronixx
Well supported
Jamar Rolando McNaughton, born in Spanish Town on 10 October 1992, is the son of the singer Selvin McNaughton, who worked as Chronicle — the boy was called Little Chronicle before he was Chronixx. He wrote his first song at five and was building riddims for other people by fourteen, which is the part of the story usually left out: he came up as a producer, not as a voice looking for one.
His brother's death in 2009 turned him toward Romaine "Teflon" Arnett and Zincfence, and the Zincfence Redemption band that followed put a touring live band back at the centre of young Jamaican music at a moment when the dance had belonged to riddims and a laptop for twenty years. Dread & Terrible (2014) announced the reggae revival; Chronology (2017) was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 60th Grammys. Exile followed in 2025.
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- Confidence
- Well supported
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Debate & reception
What people argued about this record — two documented positions each time, kept apart from verified fact. Browse every argument in the archive →
'Reggae Revival': a real movement or a media label?
One side
A genuine roots renaissance led by a new generation
The other
A journalistic marketing tag artists never chose
A documented debate over the term 'reggae revival,' framed from both sides: proponents describe a genuine roots-and-culture renaissance led by a new generation and a shared aesthetic; critics call it a journalistic and marketing tag that flattens diverse artists, some of whom have distanced themselves from it. Neutral framing; no verdict.
Read the argument →'Reggae Revival': renaissance or marketing label?
One side
A genuine roots renaissance
The other
A limiting marketing label
Two views on the 2010s Reggae Revival: some credit Chronixx, Protoje and Jah9 with reconnecting reggae to consciousness and live musicianship; others, including Chronixx himself, reject 'revival' as a marketing frame that boxes in a living scene and implies the music had died.
Read the argument →Does a live band still make the stage show?
One side
A live band as the heart of the show
The other
Consistency & audience response over instrumentation
A neutral account of commentary tied to the reggae-revival wave: many argue that a real band — as with the touring bands behind the revival singers — is what gives a stage show its energy, dynamics and live dub-and-versioning, and is worth insisting on; others counter that a well-run track show can be sharper and more consistent, and that audience response, not instrumentation, is the true measure. Contested interpretation, no verdict.
Read the argument →The Reggae Revival: conscious roots as a rebuke to dancehall's commercial dominance
One side
Roots consciousness reclaiming authenticity from commercial slackness
The other
A false binary, since Revival artists emerged from and overlap with dancehall
The early-2010s 'Reggae Revival' associated with Chronixx, Protoje, Kabaka Pyramid and Jah9 was widely read as a deliberate reassertion of Rastafari consciousness, live instrumentation and lyrical depth at a moment when slack, commercially dominant dancehall crowded roots reggae out of the airwaves. Some framed it as reggae reclaiming its authentic, message-driven identity for a young global audience; others cautioned against a simple conscious-versus-dancehall binary, noting that several Revival figures came up writing and producing for dancehall and bridged rather than opposed it. Chronixx and Protoje's 'Who Knows' became an emblem of the movement.
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