Jada Kingdom confirms that she left Republic Records just a year after she signed a deal with the American label.
Kingdom had signed a deal with Republic Records, which was brokered by her then ex-boyfriend Verse Simmonds. The details of the deal have not been revealed, but in the last year, Kingdom has not released any substantial music since her debut album, Twinkle. During her time at Republic Records, she released Jungle in late 2021.
She and Simmonds also parted ways months after her deal, and she moved on with New York rapper Nas EBK who is currently in jail awaiting trial for murder.
In a recent interview with Teen Vogue for Caribbean Heritage Month, Jada Kingdom, whose real name is Jada Ashanti Murphy, spoke about her career at present and said she was no longer on the roster for the American label and was focusing on her independent career.
“Recently, I’ve been trying to balance both my presence on social media and the business side of things for a reason,” she said in the interview, which described her as ‘hesitating’ before adding, “Now I’m a fully independent artist, no longer with a label.”
She also hinted at the reason for leaving the label.
“I felt so out of place, things weren’t feeling right.”
She added, “I want to take some of my career and keep some of me for me. It’s going to be hectic because there’s no longer a machine behind me, but I always want to be me.”
Jada Kingdom, who hails from the beachside community of Bull Bay, also spoke about doing dancehall, pop, and trap music and maintaining her versatility as an artist.
It’s unclear how long since she left the label, but Jada has been on a series of tours recently and spoke about her music gaining popularity with her eight (8) million followers on social media.
In the meantime, she did mention that she had a new album on the way, which will flesh out more of who Jada Kingdom is at her core.
“My style and inspiration stem from people like Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse, The Manhattans, The Temptations, Diana King. New age sounds, I love Spice and of course Vybz Kartel,” she said.
“I always try to find a way to bring all of my inspirations into one thing. Yes, I might explore a jazzy-type beat, but the message I’m sending is conscious while the dialect I’m speaking is still Jamaican and representing the Caribbean,” she added.
