CONCERNED about the rising crime and violence gripping the island, singer Drina Jai has put it into music with the single Time Dread.

The singer, who is in her early 20s, said the situation is cause for concern.

“Personally, I have not lost anyone close to me through crime and violence, but the things I see happening to others around me affects me. I see little girls getting robbed of their innocence and many people are losing loved ones daily by gun violence. These things don’t have to be happening to you for you to be affected,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Produced by Sanjay Pennant and Manuel Sieber, Time Dread is an emotional plea for the relevant authorities to implement measures to tackle crime. The track was released in September.

A video for Time Dread was recently released on YouTube.

Drina Jai, given name Sandrina Channer, is from Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth. She said her inspiration comes from everyday happenings.

“I write songs with my feelings and emotions and I always try to be as realistic as possible, so it’s easy to connect with my audience. My inspiration comes from the things I see happening around me and in the world in general and #TimeDread is just two of the many words that can be used to narrate it,” she said.

“I have so much to bring to table that there will be a feast. I want to bring positive and relatable music — music with meaning, show other young and up-and-coming artiste that they don’t need to use explicit or harsh lyrics to bring across a message. I do all genres of music, keeping my lyrics clean and catering for all audiences,” she continued.

Other other recordings include All About the Paper and Life Too Sweet.