Fruits Records and Easy Star Records proudly present ‘World Wide Love,’ the brand new single by Kumar with The 18th Parallel, taken from the upcoming album TALES OF REALITY.
Kumar, former lead singer of GRAMMY-nominated roots reggae band Raging Fyah, meets Switzerland’s The 18th Parallel on this classic ‘80s major-key, Roots Radics-influenced riddim. Kumar has recently appeared on a number of releases, including as a guest on Jesse Royal’s GRAMMY-nominated ROYAL and Winta James’ Gratitude Riddim EP. The 18th Parallel, based in Switzerland, is the house band for Fruits Records and recently released music with Max Romeo, Big Youth, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Derajah, Micah Shemaiah, and Joe Yorke. The main version and the dub version of ‘World Wide Love’ are mixed by JAH David of Zion I Kings.
Kumar’s and Fruits Records’ story together goes back to the foundation of the label in 2015. Kumar is a close friend to reggae elder I Kong, who was a huge mentor to the founders of Fruits Records. It was I Kong who played a huge rôle when Fruits embarked on their initial Jamaican adventures. The founders of Fruits, who would soon rename themselves The 18th Parallel, first invited Kumar to sing on I Kong’s song ‘Pass It On’ (2016). At the same time, Kumar and his band Raging Fyah were exploding on the European reggae scene. That same year, Kumar invited I Kong and his Swiss crew to perform at Wickie Wackie Festival 2016. A couple years later, starting his solo career, Kumar was invited to sing on Najavibes’ song ‘This Dust’ (2019), another offspring from the Fruits Records stable. In 2020, Kumar teamed up with The 18th Parallel on ‘Message In The Radio,’ an instant earworm with inspired and conscious lyrics, beautifully delivered in Kumar’s soulful voice over a melodious and weighty live roots reggae riddim played by the Swiss musicians.
After three singles, Fruits Records felt the need to push the collaboration further by producing a full showcase album pairing Kumar with The 18th Parallel. Four years in the making, going back and forth from Kingston to Geneva, with the final touch added by the mixing of Zion I Kings members Tippy-I and JAH David, TALES OF REALITY is a tribute to the golden age of Jamaican roots music done in a modern way.
