After a two-year break from solo releases, UK R&B artist Jermaine Riley returns with the catchy, 808-rich banger “Family”. The track samples Jay-Z’s “Family Feud” and was produced by Birmingham’s own Gifted.
Candidly touching upon the subject of marriage and building a family with the one he loves, Riley flows over the beat with his renowned approach, complete with quick vocals riffs, lush harmonies and a rap-like delivery in the verses. Unbeknownst to him, however, upon recording the song, he had no idea he was writing an anthem for those who want to take their relationships to that next level.
“All the girls I played it to were like ‘Awww… oh my gosh, that’s so cute!’ — which I didn’t expect, to be honest,” says Riley. “As songwriters, trying to please everyone and keep our audience engaged, sometimes we dive into the creative process with the intentions of ‘I know this will get them on my side’, and I didn’t do that at all with this song. I just wanted to flip the “Family Feud” thing and just have a song everyone could sing and dance along to. But the feedback has let me know that the topic is way more relatable than I thought. I just wrote the first thing that came to me.”
Jermaine Riley is currently working on his sophomore solo album, which is due out next year. Take a listen to his celebration of “Family” below.
