DANCEHALL singjay Renegad is banking on the success of a brand new reggae track, Working, which has just been released by Bossie Music label.

“The song is doing really well, and I am aggressively promoting it. When I do the song live on my IG [ Instagram], everybody say dem love it, because it speaks to the experience of many people struggling to make it in these tough economic times. This song is for the domestic workers, garbage collectors – the lowest paid members of the society who are the breadwinners for their families, and who are trying to get out of the slum,” the artiste, whose real name is Junior McCalla, said.

“The people dem say it well written; dem love the line: ‘when success come knock pon mi door, poverty jump through mi window’. Things bitter right now in Jamaica, a lot of unemployment because of the COVID-19 health crisis. I am telling people to keep the focus. The whole world is kind of at a standstill now, so we’re feeling the effects of that,” he continued.

The current pandemic has left a trail of lost jobs, and reports indicate that nearly 60 million jobs across the European Union and the United Kingdom are at risk. Here in Jamaica, several fast food chains have either closed their doors or cut staff as the pandemic health crisis deepens. Several bars, restaurants and nightclubs have been shuttered for several weeks, leading to job losses in the thousands in almost every sector of the economy. On March 10, 2020 the Government of Jamaica announced Jamaica’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 and the numbers have been trending upwards since.

“Right now, all I can tell people is to wear their masks, practise social distancing and have hope that we will survive this. Stay focus on the journey,” Renigad said.

The artiste grew up in the Newlands area of Portmore, and attended Naggo Head Primary and then Greater Portmore High School. He was ‘christened’ Renigad by producer Claude “Bigstone” Sinclair who loved his articulate, revolutionary style of singjaying and the positive vibes and meditation in the content of his lyrics.

He released his first official song, No Borderline in December 2006. He continued to record music and hone his talents, concentrating his energies on incorporating his philosophy of positivity in his music.

“I do music to help inspire and change lives. Even though I also do music to earn a living, I won’t sing lewd or violent lyrics for a hype to buss; I want my words to be meaningful and contribute in a positive way to society,” Renigad said.

He said he is inspired by the works of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jacob Miller, Dennis Brown, and Bounty Killer.

Renigad is promoting tracks such as I’m from Jamaica for G3K Music, Right Way for the Forever Music label, and Farmer Man for Small Axe Productions.