ROMderful
Rommel Donald, known by his stage name ROMderful (formerly ROM) is a British producer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist from Birmingham who is currently signed to Same Plate Entertainment (a joint venture label with Sony Music). He released his debut studio album, Press L to Continue, on Same Plate/Sony in April 2019.
ROMderful | |
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Birth name | Rommel Donald |
Born | Birmingham, UK |
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Years active | 2015–present |
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Early life and education
Rommel Donald was born and grew up in Birmingham, England.[1] As a child, he learned how to make beats and play multiple instruments, including the guitar, bass guitar, violin, and drums.[2] He was also childhood friends with fellow artist and future collaborator, KayFaraway.[1] He drew inspiration from church music, early 2000s R&B,[2] and video game soundtracks. In his teenage years, he was a member of a death metal band.[1] He would later attend university while also working on his music. During his second semester of university in 2015, however, Donald opted to drop out and focus on music full time.[2]
Career
Donald began producing music under the stage name ROM (or R.O.M.) in 2015.[2] In late 2015, he collaborated with DEFFIE on a remix of Pharrell's "Frontin'".[3] In early 2016, he released the track "I Just Want You To Know" which sampled the Snoop Dogg song, "Beautiful".[4] In March of that year, he released a 3-track EP as part of his record label Soulection's White Label series. That collection contained the song "You Love Em" featuring Emmavie.[2][5] Later that year, he earned a placement on the remix album for GoldLink's And After That, We Didn't Talk, reworking the track, "Late Night".[6] He also remixed tracks from Raye ("I, U, Us")[3] and Linden Jay ("Lose Again" featuring Shola Ama).[7] In December 2016, ROM released a track called "Kiss and Tell" featuring the vocals of Naji.[8]
In 2017, he adopted his current stage name, ROMderful. He also released several new tracks including "Only One" (with Tendayi)[9] and "SoReal?" (with KayFaraway).[10] Additionally, he produced the Jean Deaux record, "Wikipedia",[11] and appeared on Kitsuné's Afterwork Vol 1 compilation album with the track "BeThere4Me" (featuring KayFaraway).[12] In 2018, ROMderful continued working with Jean Deaux, producing her song "Energy" which was the lead single off her EP, Krash.[13] That year, he was also signed to Same Plate Entertainment, a joint venture label with Sony Music.[14]
In March 2019, he released a collaborative EP, Hours After Midnight, with KayFaraway.[15] The following month, he released his debut studio album, Press L to Continue,[16] on Same Plate/Sony.[1] The album was preceded by the singles "Run Tings" (with Shakka and featuring Dounia)[17] and "1 Missed Call" (featuring Dean and Tabber).[18] The album also featured guest appearances from TOBi, Jay Prince, Devin Tracy, Wade, and KayFaraway. Vocals from ROMderful himself also appeared on the album.[1] Music videos for "Run Tings"[19] and "Tired of the Games" (featuring TOBi) premiered after the album's release.[20] ROMderful also produced the Duckwrth track "KING KING" released in May 2019[21] and the Jean Deaux track, "Anytime" (featuring Kehlani) released in June 2019.[22]
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Details |
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Press L to Continue |
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EPs
Title | Details |
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Soulection White Label – 018 |
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Hours After Midnight (with KayFaraway) |
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Singles
Title | Year | Album |
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"Only One" (feat. Tendayi) | 2017 | Non-album single |
"BeThere4Me" (feat. KayFaraway) | Afterwork Vol 1 | |
"Run Tings" (with Shakka and feat. Dounia) | 2019 | Press L to Continue |
"1 Missed Call" (feat. Dean and Tabber) | ||
Production and remixes
Song | Year | Artist | Album | Role |
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"Frontin'" (remix with DEFFIE)[3] | 2015 | Pharrell (feat. Jay-Z) | In My Mind | Remixer |
"Late Night" (remix)[6] | 2016 | GoldLink (feat. Masego) | And After That, We Didn't Talk | Remixer |
"I, U, Us" (remix)[3] | Raye | Second | Remixer | |
"Lose Again" (remix)[7] | Linden Jay (feat. Shola Ama) | Non-album single | Remixer | |
"Wikipedia"[11] | 2017 | Jean Deaux | Non-album single | Producer |
"Magic"[23] | Rayana Jay | Morning After | Producer | |
"Energy"[13] | 2018 | Jean Deaux | Krash | Producer |
"Squeeze"[24] | Lou Phelps (feat. Jahkoy) | Non-album single | Producer | |
"Anytime"[22] | 2019 | Jean Deaux (feat. Kehlani) | Empathy | Producer |
"KING KING"[21] | Duckwrth | THE FALLING MAN | Producer | |
References
- Davies, Nicola (15 May 2019). "ROMderful is recycling his life experience into musical gold". Dummy Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Vensand, Rachel (13 January 2017). "Artist to Watch: ROM". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Tulay, Rasheed (16 September 2016). "ROM presents a beautiful rework of RAYE's "I, U, Us" [Premiere]". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Buck, Courtney (13 January 2016). "Stream and download R.O.M.'s 'I Just Want You To Know'". The 405. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- "Soulection White Label: 017 & 018". Kel & Mel Reviews. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (9 June 2016). "Goldlink Shares And After That, We Di'n't Talk: The Remixes". The FADER. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Lindberg, Cailey (23 November 2016). "ROM remixes 'Lose Again' by Linden Jay & Shola Ama [Premiere]". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Vensand, Rachel (19 December 2016). "ROM breaks 2-month silence with catchy new Naji collab, "Kiss and Tell"". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Jiang, Ruth (30 April 2017). "ROMderful and Tendayi team up on spicy smooth 'Only One'". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Jiang, Ruth (23 October 2017). "Get "SoReal?" with ROMderful and KayFaraway". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Avis, Nate (23 August 2017). "Jean Deaux- Wikipedia (prod. ROMderful)". 4th Shore. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Indiana, Jake (7 December 2017). "Gracy Hopkins' "The Faction" Is Murky, Midnight Rap at Its Best". High Snobiety. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (4 May 2018). "Jean Deaux demands good vibes on her new single "Energy"". The FADER. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Payne, Ogden (30 July 2018). "Inside The Business Of Sony's Newest Joint Venture Label, Same Plate Entertainment". Forbes. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Demuren, Emmanuel (18 March 2019). "Listen: KayFaraway – The Forfeit". AuxChords. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Mercedes, Evelin (22 April 2019). "ROMderful Set To Release Debut Album 'Press L To Continue' On April 23". CelebMix. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Mercedes, Evelin (4 April 2019). "ROMderful Teams Up With Shakka & Dounia To "Run Tings"". CelebMix. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Herman, Tamar (17 April 2019). "Romderful Teams Up With Dean & Tabber For '1 Missed Call': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Oke, Tobi (20 May 2019). "Premiere: Watch ROMderful "Run Tings" With Shakka And Dounia In New Visuals". Complex. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Elder, Sajae (15 June 2019). "Watch ROMderful and ToBi's "Tired of the Games"". The FADER. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Marsh, Nick (20 August 2019). "EP Review | DUCKWRTH – THE FALLING MAN". Focus Hip Hop. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Post, Chantilly (7 June 2019). "Jean Deaux Sets The Summer Mood With New Kehlani & ROMderful Single "Anytime"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Meline, Gabe (20 December 2017). "The 10 Best Bay Area Albums of 2017: Rayana Jay, 'Morning After'". KQED. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- Slingerland, Calum (14 September 2018). "Hear Lou Phelps Team with Jahkoy for "Squeeze"". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 September 2019.