Dr Glenroy “Ajaniah” Pinnock, University of Technology (UTech) lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Sports, recently released his debut EP titled Listen and Learn.

The five-track EP, scheduled to be released next Friday, is self-produced. However, its launch was held on Monday, February 17 at the LT 48 Room at University of Technology in Kingston.

For the project, Dr Pinnock was backed by the Real Roots Band.

The EP features To Fail Is Never An Option, Hopeless People, Blacks and Whites, Tell Me Why, and Charge Them Up.

Pinnock said he was motivated to recoded the EP after conducting years of research on the impact of music on students who listened to reggae music during mathematics classes at the university.

“In my research, I’ve found that playing songs that have a positive message before the beginning of class sessions motivated students to work harder in class, while instrumental music helped them to score higher in exams. The songs on this EP carry a positive and uplifting message. There are no instrumentals on it, however, in the future I plan to release a full album featuring all five songs from the EP along with instrumental versions,” said Dr Pinnock.

He also added: “I created this EP to help students with their studies; each song on the EP is a motivational song. I also hope that more teachers will start to use music in their classes to help students to learn more.”

Dr Pinnock has been advocating for the use of reggae music in the classrooms, to help students excel in learning mathematics, since 2014.

He is the pioneer researcher on mathematics anxiety reduction in the Caribbean.

He has also done live, instrumental, acoustic musical treatments to improve students’ mathematics learning ability and exam results, locally.