Veteran reggae crooner Anthony Cruz has been busy lately, launching and promoting his latest album, ‘Under the Cover’, in Jamaica and in Fort Lauderdale and New York in the United States.

Starting out at Stone Love Headquarters in St Andrew recently, the artiste who is best and widely known for his monster lover’s rock hit, ‘Half-Way Tree’, was the centre of attention amid good vibes that included the likes of Wee Pow and Geefus from Stone Love, with hits after hits being spun at the event.

Born Rohan Smith, Cruz, who emerged from Mandeville, Manchester, is a nephew of the late musical gem, Garnett Silk, and said he lived in the same house and community with Silk as youngsters.

Hence, it is no surprise that with good music ‘in his blood’, Cruz had his first recording at age 16-17 years under the guidance of Willy Lindo, and has proverbially not looked back musically since then.

Speaking after the local launch of the album, Cruz said some hard work and strategic production around him got him going into the music business, and he has been moving forward ever since.

‘Under the Covers’, another of his standard lover’s rock compilations, includes some top classics from both Cruz and other top reggae artistes from back in the days, representing a mix of some old hits with new, seemingly hit-bound music.

The 11-track album notably involved numerous different producers who worked on different tracks, with extreme variety emerging in the overall output.

In reflecting on his career, Cruz said he has done some seven albums to date, with another three already completed and waiting on the wings to come in the near future. These include a tribute to foundation reggae artiste, Daddy U-Roy, with works from various top artistes being integrated with Cruz’s music.

“We are getting good vibes for ‘Under the Covers’ from across the world,” said Cruz, noting that he was starting the launch near Half-Way Tree, the ‘base’ of his biggest hit to date, which was produced by ‘Big A of Irie FM.