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Checking in with: Vegas reggae singer Lady Reiko

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Local reggae songstress Lady Reiko hopes to travel internationally and tour with up-and-coming bands in 2016.
Photo: Spencer Burton
Jason Harris

We might just be verging on spring, but if you’re already seeking out the perfect summer band, look no further than Lady Reiko & The Sin City Prophets. Saturday night at Backstage Bar & Billiards, Reiko, along with a seven-piece backing band and guest vocalists, threw a release party for new single “It Only Matter What I Say,” and it was indeed a party. The reggae group had everyone dancing and in a good mood with both originals and fun covers of songs like “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Pass the Dutchie” and “Welcome to Jamrock.” At the end of the night there was no doubt, everything was irie for Reiko, as she looks to expand her base this year.

Origin: “I’ve been doing reggae for 15 years. I grew up listening to Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and Alpha Blondy and Gregory Isaacs along with Motown artists like Etta James and Al Green and Marvin Gaye. It’s just a fusion of everything. Always with a positive message.”

Goals for 2016: “This year I’m going from being classified as a roots/reggae musician to a world reggae musician. Hopefully it will give us opportunities to travel internationally and do some tours with some other up-and-coming bands.”

The Single: “It Only Matter What I Say” was produced by James “Bonzai” Caruso, a multi-Grammy winner who has worked with the likes of Damian and Stephen Marley, Alicia Keys and Madonna. “It was written to remind people how powerful they are,” Reiko says. “We sometimes forget that we’re the creators of our own reality.”

Next Shows: Local Brews & Locals Grooves at House of Blues, March 5; opening for The Expanders at Backstage Bar & Billiards, March 19.

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