How to Find Your Voice | with Likkle Jordee
Some people are born into music.
Likkle Jordee became it.
Growing up in Mililani, reggae wasn’t just background noise. It was the heartbeat of Likkle Jordee’s childhood. His friends were tight-knit, the jams were constant, and the music was everything.
“As much as I remember, reggae music was all we knew at the time…music was the thing that we loved the most.”
But Jordee didn’t step into this life fully formed. He had to find his voice, carve out his own sound, and fight to be heard, even when no one was listening.
Here’s how he did it.
1. Follow the feeling
You don’t need formal training to start.
You just need something to say and the will to say it.
“I didn’t have any musical background, no lessons or anything like that…First learn how to play, eventually learn the rhythm, and then try to combine the two.”
Jordee learned the way many local kids do: family functions, beach days, backyard jams. Ukuleles in hand, cousins freestyling, harmonizing, vibing. That’s where he got his first reps. That’s where he watched and listened and started to join in.
Even when the feedback wasn’t supported, he used it to fuel him.
“I remember my sister would just be in the next room saying, ‘Shut up, you can’t sing.’ It was those moments that I think back on that kept me pushing and kept me focused on what I wanted to do.”
2. Let the Music carry you
Likkle’s journey wasn’t easy. His mom passed away when he was young. His dad remarried. He felt the weight of it all. But in the midst, he found something to hold onto.
Reggae music. It wasn’t just the rhythm or the melodies. It was the message. The message that told him he wasn’t alone. That healing was possible. That purpose could grow from pain.
“Reggae music saved my life. The message in reggae music, the power…a lot of us refer to it as word, sound, and power. Those three elements made the path clearer for me.”
Word meant truth. Lyrics that spoke to what he was going through, even when he couldn’t put it into words himself.
Sound meant energy. A sonic vibration that moved through him and gave his emotions somewhere to go.
Power was the result. The transformation that happened when those two things came together.
It gave him direction. Something to strive for. A reason to get up and keep going.
And to Likkle, no one embodied that more than Bob Marley.
Bob Marley, who is often thought of as the pioneer of reggae.
“It’s always going to lead back to Bob Marley,” says Likkle. “You can see the passion behind it.”
Bob Marley wasn’t just performing. He was preaching hope. You could see it in his face, in the way he moved, in the way he believed. That intensity and that intention became Likkle’s ammunition.
3. Seize the moment
When he was 13, he knew what he wanted: to become an artist who inspires others like reggae inspired him. But it took a church performance to really unlock his potential.
“I remember singing at church, and I gotta say that would be my AHA moment because everybody was just kind of like, ‘We didn’t know he could do this.’ It just validated more that I was on the path I needed to be on.”
The nerves were real. But so was the purpose.
From there, he kept building.
After graduating in 2011, Likkle had no roadmap. Just a studio mic, a SoundCloud account, and the need to create.
“I kind of locked myself in a room, honed in on my craft, grabbed instrumentals and dubs from YouTube, and freestyled on them.”
That hustle led to his first connection with Ranking Tuli, a reggae artist from Compton. They started trading verses and eventually formed a virtual music group called Digikal Youth.
This is where Likkle created his artistry and found his style.
4. Say yes to what scares you
Eventually, he stepped out as Likkle Jordee, a solo artist inspired by childhood MCs who never got their chance. This time, he was ready.
Still, the professional world came fast and came hard. His producer, Leslie Ludiazo, put him in front of 20 strangers and told him to perform.
“I just wanted to be that kid in the dancehall just killing it. These kinds of things really built my confidence up and showed me how to have my image on stage. My crowd interaction, my stage presence.”
At first, stage presence didn’t come naturally to him. He didn’t move. He didn’t dress the part. He didn’t think about it.
But he learned.
“If the fans are there to experience you, you want to give them the best experience.”
Touring with J Boog, Through the Roots, and Hirie taught him even more. On the road, you either show up or fall behind.
“It’s a new space you get to experience that shows you the possibilities of where your journey could possibly take you. But there’s a different work ethic…you’re on the grind and gotta make it happen.”
5. Stay consistent, even in the quiet
So, coming home to Hawaiʻi meant choosing whether to keep that momentum, or risk getting too comfortable.
For Jordee, confidence comes from rooting himself and remembering his why.
“Early on in my career, I’d be nervous, but the one thing that really gets me out of that mindset is going back to the root of everything. Why I do this. Who I do it for. I do this for the people who might have went through hardships as well. To inspire and to move them, and for them to move others in the same way.”
That’s what fuels him. That’s what keeps him on stage, freestyling his truth, turning adversity into art.
Even now, Likkle faces highs and lows. Burnout. Imposter syndrome. Financial stress. But he knows how to climb back.
“When I see things not moving, that’s a big indicator that I need to wake up. Setting a schedule for myself and being consistent…it becomes second nature.”
His advice to his younger self?
Be confident. Stay consistent.
Just keep moving, cause when you stop moving, so does everything else.
Whether you're in your room practicing vocals, or on the edge of your first big moment, let Likkle Jordee’s story remind you:
You don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to be all in.
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