Newlands, an urban community in St. Catherine parish, Jamaica, has a history of crime and violence going back to the 1980s. It is the hometown of emerging deejay Artical.
The hardships he has seen there since his youth inspired ‘They Don’t Know’, his latest song, which is produced by Alton Smith for Florida-based Syn Citi Entertainment. “Is a ting wi (we) si (see) fi (for) years, whole heap a hardship an’ suffering. Yuh have lotta good people inna Newlands an’ so-called ghetto area, all dem want is a chance,” said Article.
Newlands is a five-minute drive from the working-class neighborhood of Waterford, where Vybz Kartel ran his infamous Gaza crew. Article was a model student in high school where he excelled academically. After graduation, he juggled academics, entrepreneurship, and a recording career.
Five years ago, his first song was released. That single, ‘Want love’, was produced by Prime Time Music, which also directed Artical on most of his early music. ‘Twerk It’, released in 2022, is his most successful song to date. Article hopes its message of empowerment will appeal not only to wayward youth, but administrators as well.
“Wi need more community centres which can help mek less crime, less violence an’ expose di youth dem,” he said.