Eddie Murphy promises to play his reggae songs in the UK if 'people start liking them'
The Golden Globe-winning actor has worked with Snoop Dogg in the past
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Louise Thomas
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Eddie Murphy has vowed to bring his reggae beats to the UK should his music career “heat up”.
The actor-comedian has enjoyed some chart success state-side and will release his next single “Oh Jah Jah” later this month.
“If people start liking these tracks, I’ll put a little band together and come do some stuff,” he told BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Twin B and Yasmin Evans, both of whom describe themselves as “massive fans”.
Murphy has been a Jamaican music lover all his life, ever since he “got into Bob Marley at High School” and began discovering more reggae artists.
He ventured into music-making with Snoop Dogg in 2013 and has now penned and co-produced some songs on a new solo album called 9.
“It was great hanging with Snoop at my crib, at the house, we were just there chilling and recording,” Murphy said.
Murphy, 53, won a Golden Globe for his performance as soul singer James Early in 2006's Dreamgirls, and has been nominated for the likes of Beverly Hills Cop and The Nutty Professor.
One fellow star who likely won’t be attending any of Murphy’s gigs is Johnny Depp, who earlier this week said that actors turning to music “makes him sick”.
Despite performing at the Grammys himself in the past, Depp said he hates the “come see me play the guitar because you’ve seen me in 12 movies” idea.
“It shouldn’t be [that way],” he said at the Mortdecai premiere in Berlin. “You want the people who are listening to the music to only be interested in the music.”
However, Murphy insists that he is “not trying to be a pop star” as music is simply one of his hobbies.
“If I feel confident about something then I just let people hear it and whether or not they take it seriously I don’t even think about it,” he said.
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