St Croix reggae artiste Jahman had an idea for a song that would deliver a positive message to the world. He called on veteran reggae singer Cocoa Tea.

The song, We Up, Never Down was released last week. It is produced by Splatter House Records and D Pottinger from Phat Trax at Music Works.

“The response has so far been phenomenal. People have been enquiring how I got onto a song with Cocoa Tea. We’re really excited about it,” said Jahman.

“The message that we want the world to get from it is no matter what you’re going through in life, just tell yourself, your bredrin or family member to just hold the faith. No matter what life tosses at you, once you have the breath of life and feeling healthy, you’re up,” he continued.

Jahman, given name Jabari Carrington, hit the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in 2018 with the album Altitude, which peaked at number seven.

“Cocoa Tea is part of the foundation of reggae music. Just listening to him, he’s like a walking library with so much knowledge about reggae music from past then and now. One of my favourite songs is Rykers Island,” Jahman told Jamaica Observer.

Cocoa Tea spoke about collaborating with Jahman.

“Troy McLean [radio disc jock] called me and told me that he had someone who would like to do a collaboration with me. So I asked him who it was and he said Jahman. I told him to send me the song so I could listen to it, and after listening to the song, I thought it had a positive message. I decided that I would do it,” said Cocoa Tea. “It was really easy working with Jahman because he was very humble and I like that about him.”

He spoke about the message behind We Up, Never Down.

“The title of the song carries a message of hope and aspirations for the world, especially in the situation that we are in today. It’s easy for people to give up hope and lose focus in these times. But this song is telling people that although there is so much fear being instilled in the people, just remember that we up, never down, good vibes staying around and remember to trod with a positive sound,” said Cocoa Tea.