Island Kings Unveil New Member, Drop Original Single Sweet Like Sugar

Island Kings added a third voice and their first original to the catalogue in the same week, confirming Deandre 'Dre King' Phillip as their newest member while releasing 'Sweet Like Sugar' on Friday, April 1.

The announcement closed out a transition set in motion by the departure of Albert Justin 'Just King' Walker, one of the group's founding voices. King Diel, born Adiel Thomas, addressed Walker's exit plainly: "Justin is our brother who is super talented… He left because he had other obligations. He is involved in a lot of projects, and now, because we're going super hard, we need a little bit more engagement at this time."

Dre King's arrival was not a cold audition. He had already stood on stage with Adiel Thomas and Carl 'Lee King' Scharschmidt at the group's 'Kings of Christmas' show last December, and the chemistry from that night made the formal addition feel like a confirmation rather than a recruitment. His role in the harmonic stack is where the real news sits: with Just King Walker's mid-range presence gone, 'Sweet Like Sugar' redistributes the vocal weight across the new lineup, and listeners who pull up any pre-December Island Kings cover alongside the new single will hear exactly how that balance has shifted.

Island Kings formed during COVID lockdowns, building their audience through social-media covers before graduating into a touring act. The pivot to original material is the move that separates viral accounts from working reggae careers, and 'Sweet Like Sugar' is the group's first clear statement that they intend to build a catalogue of their own. Their commitment to Jamaican heritage and culture has always been central to the project; original songs are now the vehicle for proving that ethos holds when there is no borrowed melody to lean on.

With the new lineup locked and the first single out, Island Kings are positioned to push for radio play, streaming playlist placement, and eventually the festival slots that catalogue presence makes possible, a familiar path for Jamaican harmony acts that have done the hard work of establishing a sound before asking for a stage.