Jayute calls for help
GROWING up the fifth of eight boys in rural Jamaica, singjay Jayute has become accustomed to tough times. His latest song, Help The Youth, appeals for state-instituted programmes to assist the country’s economically challenged youngsters.
“The youth dem a face all kinda atrocities an’ deception. Dem need the truth, but no one want dem to be part of the truth,” said the 28-year-old Rastafarian. Help The Youth is Jayute’s fifth song.
Like his previous recordings, which include Me’s a Youth From The Ghetto, it was produced by Devon Bradshaw, bass player with the Jahpostles Band. Jayute (born Sean Phillips) is from the district of Fairy Hill.
He says he experienced a lot of hardship in his formative years. Because his mother could not afford to send him, he left school at age 15 and tried his hand at farming and operating a small restaurant on Winnifred Beach.
He was never far from music. Influenced by fiery artistes such as Peter Tosh and Sizzla, Jayute got his first taste of serious competition in the 2009 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission parish finals, placing third.
In the past two years, he has collaborated with Bradshaw, whose credits include recording and touring with Burning Spear and Garnet Silk.