With the global escalation of ‘black on black crime’, singer Patrick Junior put his concerns in ‘Calm Yuhself Youthman’, a song he recorded for producer Lloyd Shaw’s Issachar Muzik. It was released in late November.
Born in St. Vincent and The Grenadines, the roots artist also lived for many years in the United States and United Kingdom, where criminality among black youth is a perennial problem.
‘Calm Yuhself Youthman’ is also a personal statement for Patrick Junior.
“Ones personal to I have succumbed to the escalating gun violence in our community, which inspired I Man to write this song, reaching out to the youths. Black on Black violence is a sickness designed by a system specifically to create division amongst the youths, and I don’t like it,” he said.
Black on Black crime is most prevalent in major cities in the United States such as Chicago and Los Angeles, where gang violence has resulted in hundreds of deaths since the 1990s. It is one of the biggest concerns for black leaders in that country.
While calypso and soca are the dominant sounds in St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Patrick Junior was attracted to Jamaican roots-reggae through an early admiration for Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Dennis Brown. Most of his songs carry socially aware messages.
In 2025, he released ‘Shingle City’, his second EP. ‘Proud to Be Black’, his first, came out in 2008.