Tarrus Riley (born Omar Riley, 1979, The Bronx, New York City, United States) is a Jamaican-American reggae singer, the son of Jimmy Riley.
Riley is the son of veteran singer Jimmy Riley and nurse Lavern Tatham-Riley. He was born in the Bronx and grew up in South Florida. He began his musical career as a deejay working with Busta Rhymes, taking his birth sign as his stage name at his mother's suggestion (the spelling later changed from Taurus to Tarrus), and recorded his first singles for his father's Love & Promotion label.
Despite his father's fame, Riley has credited his mother's influence on his career as much as his father and, along with his initial ambition to be a reggae deejay rather than singer, credits this factor for his unique singing voice when compared to his father. He was guided in his early career by Dean Fraser, who also performs in his band and produces much of Riley's work.
Riley has released three albums, Challenges (2004), Parables (2006), and Contagious (2009). Contagious features guest appearances from Damian Marley, Vybz Kartel, Etana, Konshens, Demarco and Duane Stephenson. His commercial breakthrough came in 2006 with the Parables album and the Jamaican number one single "She's Royal".
Riley was awarded the Reggae Runnins Caribbean Heritage Award at the 2009 HOT 105 FM Caribbean-American Heritage Awards. He was nominated in the Best Reggae category of the 2009 MOBO Awards.
Discography Challenges (2004), Parables (2006), Contagious (2009),
