Penthouse Showcase, Vol. 13

Comfort Zone

Reanno Gordon P/K/A Busy Signal (born January 24),  is one of dancehall/reggae's most prolific artistes. He was born in the garden parish of St Ann where he was first introduced to music by his grandparents who took him to church.

Busy Signal later moved to areas in West and East Kingston such as Tivoli Gardens, Papine, Spanish Town before migrating to the United States. A past student of Brown's Town Comprehensive High School, Busy Signal's love affair with music continued.  He performed for his peers at school, beating his fists in time on his desk and deejaying Bounty Killer's songs (he claims to know all of Bounty's lyrics) before progressing to his own material.

Known as one of the artistes leading the contemporary dancehall movement, Busy Signal has been a large part of the scene since 2003. His first hit single, "Step Out", was one of the most popular dancehall songs in 2005.

His debut album Step Out was released a year later in 2006 with excellent reviews. With questions arising about his unusual moniker, Busy Signal explained that he got the nickname from his friends because he was constantly busy.

As his popularity grew, so did his catalogue. In 2007/2008, he released several hit singles including "Nah Go A Jail Again", "Smoke Some High Grade", "Tic Toc" and the track entitled "Unknown Number". September 22, 2008, Busy Signal released his second studio album titled Loaded, a 15 track compilation of VP Records of well known dancehall hits such as "Jail," "Whine Pon Di Edge," "These Are the Days,"  as well as never-heard-before exclusive tracks such as "People So Evil" and "Hustle Hard."

He also appeared on the lead single of international stars No Doubt's Push and Shove album.

On May 21, 2012, Busy Signal was arrested at the Norman Manley International Airport in Jamaica due to an an extradition warrant from the U.S.A, just weeks after the release of his latest studio album and first authentic reggae album - Reggae Music Again. He was however, released on November 16, 2013 after which his name was legally changed to Reanno Devon Gordon. After months of incarceration, Busy Signal maintained that it was the prayers and support of his family and friends which kept him going. 

Just months after his release, Busy Signal was once again thrust into the spotlight with the release of Bumaye (Watch Out Fi Dis) with Major Lazer. 

The single has been one of his most successful to date. It made its way to the Billboard charts before being certified Platinum by the International Federation of the Photographic Industry (IFPI) in Denmark.

The artiste also formed his own record label titled Turf Music Entertainment which has been extremely successful and pivotal in the artiste's career.

With promoters clamoring to book Busy Signal in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, the artiste spends the majority of his time on tours, spreading reggae and dancehall music.

Having already embarked on several tours since the beginning of the year, Busy Signal is now gearing up to for the upcoming carnival season where he has already voiced a plethora of soca-infused songs.

He has always approached his craft from a different perspective, not trodding the usual road of trying to voice on many rhythms in order to try and catch a break. Instead, Busy chose to record songs with concepts attached to them on purpose-built rhythms and as such as garnered countless fans which he interacts with on a regular basis on his social media pages. (Instagram and Twitter: busysignal_turf, Facebook: OneBusySignal)

Busy's businesslike approach to the industry has made him into one of Jamaica's most successful artistes.