Dancehall artiste Youngsta Musiq believes that far too many juveniles and minors are falling victim to gun violence. He is convinced that there is an organized system of oppression designed to keep a certain class of people in poverty thereby creating an ugly cycle of violence and death. 

“When you sit down and think about it, you have to wonder why this is allowed to happen. Is a wicked cycle mi bredda, the youngsters grow up ah see the violence , digest it, make it a part of them and instead of changing it, take the road of revenge and reprisal and push back that same violence on others, sometimes younger than themselves,” the artiste whose real name is Najeeb McKay, said. 

“Check it, the violence is like a cry for help. If you run the file of most juvenile shotters, they were abused or exposed to violence at an early age, a cousin, a friend, a father died when they were young and dem internalise it and become violent themselves. We need to show the youths a better way, it terrible bredda,“ the outspoken deejay reasoned.

Youngsta recorded a single called ‘Positivity’ on the Lion Riddims label recently to address these issues. The song will be released on October 30 on all digital music platforms.

“As a young man myself, I have to defend the juveniles, I see them growing wild, but they are not lost. We can save them from the path they are on,” he said. 

Major acts of violence, including murder and shootings, committed against female minors has doubled in the past five years. Official statistics released by the Jamaica Constabulary Force revealed that the number of murders has doubled from 6 cases in 2014 to 13 cases in 2018. 

This sombre trend is also mirrored in the numbers of shootings which jumped from 18 cases in 2014 to 32 cases in 2018.

The Spanish Town native grew up in the war-torn St. John’s Road area where he attended St. Catherine High. Upon leaving school, he recorded his first single, ‘Just Wine’ featuring Echo Mystic. He has worked on his craft over the years. To date, his most popular songs are ‘It’s OK’ on the New Chapter Production label and ‘Man a Win’ on the YB Productions label. 

He released a video for ‘Man a Win’ on October 1. 

“The feedback has been really good. This is a hype song, lots of dancing girls and young people partying and having fun, a straight banger. The people ah respond to it. It will be in rotation on RE, Hype TV and Flow in the next couple weeks,” he said. 

He recently inked a booking and recording deal with Cayman Islands-based independent label, Taler’mad Music Group.

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