Rommel Donald, known by his stage name ROMderful (formerly ROM) is a British producer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist from Birmingham. He released his debut studio album, Press L to Continue, on Same Plate/Sony in April 2019.

ROMderful
Birth nameRommel Donald
BornBirmingham, UK
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Producer
  • DJ
  • multi-instrumentalist
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • bass guitar
  • violin
  • drums
  • vocals
Years active2015–present
Labels
  • Same Plate Entertainment
  • Sony
  • Soulection

Early life and education edit

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 edit

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 edit

Studio albums edit

List of studio albums with selected details
Title Details
Press L to Continue
  • Released: 23 April 2019
  • Label: Same Plate/Sony
  • Formats: Digital download
PLEASE RECONNECT CONTROLLER
  • Released: 29 October 2021
  • Label: EMA Recordings
  • Formats: Digital download

EPs edit

List of EPs with selected details
Title Details
Soulection White Label – 018
  • Released: 18 March 2016
  • Label: Soulection
  • Formats: Digital download
Hours After Midnight
(with KayFaraway)
  • Released: 14 March 2019
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download
ICE CREAM CLONES
  • Released: 25 November 2020
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download
UTOPIA
(with Summer Soul)
  • Released: 9 June 2022
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download
ICE CREAM CLONES 2
  • Released: 29 September 2023
  • Label: Self-released
  • Formats: Digital download

Singles edit

List of singles with selected details
Title Year Album
"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 edit

List of production and remix credits
Song Year Artist Album Role
"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
"Online"[25] 2020 SIRUP cure Producer
"Overnight"[25] SIRUP cure Producer
"Sunshine"[25] SIRUP cure Producer

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Davies, Nicola (15 May 2019). "ROMderful is recycling his life experience into musical gold". Dummy Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Vensand, Rachel (13 January 2017). "Artist to Watch: ROM". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Tulay, Rasheed (16 September 2016). "ROM presents a beautiful rework of RAYE's "I, U, Us" [Premiere]". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  4. ^ Buck, Courtney (13 January 2016). "Stream and download R.O.M.'s 'I Just Want You To Know'". The 405. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Soulection White Label: 017 & 018". Kel & Mel Reviews. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  6. ^ a b Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (9 June 2016). "Goldlink Shares And After That, We Di'n't Talk: The Remixes". The FADER. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  7. ^ a b Lindberg, Cailey (23 November 2016). "ROM remixes 'Lose Again' by Linden Jay & Shola Ama [Premiere]". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  8. ^ Vensand, Rachel (19 December 2016). "ROM breaks 2-month silence with catchy new Naji collab, "Kiss and Tell"". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  9. ^ Jiang, Ruth (30 April 2017). "ROMderful and Tendayi team up on spicy smooth 'Only One'". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  10. ^ Jiang, Ruth (23 October 2017). "Get "SoReal?" with ROMderful and KayFaraway". Earmilk. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  11. ^ a b Avis, Nate (23 August 2017). "Jean Deaux- Wikipedia (prod. ROMderful)". 4th Shore. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  12. ^ Indiana, Jake (7 December 2017). "Gracy Hopkins' "The Faction" Is Murky, Midnight Rap at Its Best". High Snobiety. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  13. ^ a b Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (4 May 2018). "Jean Deaux demands good vibes on her new single "Energy"". The FADER. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  14. ^ Payne, Ogden (30 July 2018). "Inside The Business Of Sony's Newest Joint Venture Label, Same Plate Entertainment". Forbes. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  15. ^ Demuren, Emmanuel (18 March 2019). "Listen: KayFaraway – The Forfeit". AuxChords. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  16. ^ Mercedes, Evelin (22 April 2019). "ROMderful Set To Release Debut Album 'Press L To Continue' On April 23". CelebMix. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  17. ^ Mercedes, Evelin (4 April 2019). "ROMderful Teams Up With Shakka & Dounia To "Run Tings"". CelebMix. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  18. ^ Herman, Tamar (17 April 2019). "Romderful Teams Up With Dean & Tabber For '1 Missed Call': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  19. ^ Oke, Tobi (20 May 2019). "Premiere: Watch ROMderful "Run Tings" With Shakka And Dounia In New Visuals". Complex. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  20. ^ Elder, Sajae (15 June 2019). "Watch ROMderful and ToBi's "Tired of the Games"". The FADER. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  21. ^ a b Marsh, Nick (20 August 2019). "EP Review | DUCKWRTH – THE FALLING MAN". Focus Hip Hop. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  22. ^ a b Post, Chantilly (7 June 2019). "Jean Deaux Sets The Summer Mood With New Kehlani & ROMderful Single "Anytime"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  23. ^ Meline, Gabe (20 December 2017). "The 10 Best Bay Area Albums of 2017: Rayana Jay, 'Morning After'". KQED. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  24. ^ Slingerland, Calum (14 September 2018). "Hear Lou Phelps Team with Jahkoy for "Squeeze"". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  25. ^ a b c admin, (2021/05/10 (Mon) 09:00). "10 Questions for SIRUP & ROMderful". block.fm. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links edit